In the midst of the global artificial intelligence (AI) boom, the semiconductor industry is thriving, with the operating profit of the top 500 domestic companies doubling in the second and fourth quarters of this year compared to the same period last year. Particularly, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix led the improvement in performance, with operating profits increasing by more than 18 trillion won in the second and fourth quarters.
According to the Corporate Data Research CEO Score, which announced the results of the second and fourth quarter performance survey of 334 of the top 500 companies in domestic sales who submitted their semi-annual reports until the previous day, the total revenue for the second and fourth quarters of these companies amounted to 779.48 trillion won, showing a 7.0% increase from the same period last year (728.63 trillion won). Operating profit also increased by 107.1% year-on-year to 59.39 trillion won (compared to 28.68 trillion won).
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix led the rising trend in performance improvement due to the AI semiconductor boom. In the second and fourth quarters, Samsung Electronics recorded an operating profit of 10.44 trillion won, marking a 1462% increase from the same period last year (668.5 billion won) and maintaining the top spot in overall operating profit. SK Hynix also recorded an operating profit of 5.47 trillion won in the second quarter, turning from a large deficit of 2.89 trillion won in the same period last year to a significant profit. SK Hynix rose to second place in operating profit, surpassing Hyundai-Kia.
Other companies with high operating profits included Hyundai Motor (4.28 trillion won), Kia (3.64 trillion won), Korea Electric Power Corporation (1.25 trillion won), LG Electronics (1.20 trillion won), Samsung Life Insurance (905.5 billion won), Samsung C&T (900.4 billion won), DB Insurance (786.8 billion won), and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance (782.3 billion won).
The companies that saw the highest increase in operating profit compared to the same period last year were also identified as Samsung Electronics (9.77 trillion won increase) and SK Hynix (8.35 trillion won increase), benefiting from the increasing demand for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) and other AI semiconductors.
On the other hand, battery companies saw a significant decrease in operating profit due to the market stagnation in the electric vehicle market, while the steel and chemical industries experienced a decrease in performance due to the worsening export market conditions.
*Keywords: Casun, Semiconductor, Electric Vehicle, Artificial Intelligence, AI*