According to the company, revenue rose 32% from the previous quarter and operating profit 38%, with an operating margin of 80%. It is the first time SK hynix's quarterly revenue has passed ₩100 trillion. In DRAM, growth came mainly from server DDR5 sales, and HBM4 shipments began in earnest. In NAND, sales of 321-layer eSSDs for data centers grew.
The company attributes the price rises to demand for AI memory, and says building new fabs and moving to leading-edge processes take a long time. As a result, it says, the structure in which demand exceeds supply will persist through 2030. In the short term it expects enterprise and personal AI to lead demand, and over the longer term autonomous driving and robotics as well.
SK hynix has signed long-term agreements with 14 major customers, including leading cloud providers, covering more than 50% of its production capacity for 2027 and 2028, with pricing set within an agreed range. It plans to run its M15X fab at full capacity by year-end to increase HBM4 output, and expects HBM4 to overtake HBM3E in shipments and revenue in the fourth quarter.
According to The Register, CFO Kim Woo-hyun said on the earnings call that PC and smartphone shipments are expected to fall because of higher memory prices and shortages. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of ₩14 trillion and a ₩20 trillion share buyback. The results are described as preliminary.
