AI boom helps SK hynix nearly double quarterly profit

Taking second place in the global ranking of memory manufacturers overall, South Korean SK hynix remains the largest supplier of HBM memory chips, which are in demand by computing accelerators. Favorable conditions allowed the company to update records for both revenue and profit in the third quarter.

Image Source: SK Hynix

SK hynix’s revenue in the third quarter rose 94% year-on-year to $12.7 billion in exchange rate terms, and operating profit exceeded analysts’ expectations, reaching $5.08 billion versus a loss of $1.3 billion a year earlier. In addition to supplying HBM, the company is benefiting from the boom in artificial intelligence systems by supplying solid-state drives in the server segment. In the past quarter, the server direction provided more than 60% of revenue in the NAND segment.

In volume terms, shipments of HBM family chips grew by more than 70% sequentially and more than tripled compared to the same period last year. Even after such rapid growth, SK hynix does not hesitate to say that it expects the trend to continue next year. The DRAM and NAND segments next year will grow by 15–19% in monetary terms, according to manufacturer representatives.

In addition, the demand for memory in the PC and smartphone segment will also begin to grow, as consumers will begin to be interested in new device models with local acceleration functions for artificial intelligence systems. Company representatives believe that the memory industry has almost passed the crisis phase and is now ready for a recovery in demand. In the current quarter, SK hynix will begin shipping 12-tier memory stacks like HBM3E. In the near term, this will help it increase the share of revenue from HBM sales from 30 to 40% of total revenue. The company intends to begin deliveries of HBM4 chips in the second half of next year. SK hynix management is convinced that it is premature to talk about a decrease in demand for HBM in the AI ​​segment.