SK Hynix has achieved record-breaking quarterly performance, driven by a surge in demand for artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors. The company is experiencing what is described as a ‘super boom’ due to its exceptional profitability, with an operating profit margin exceeding 70%, an unusual feat for a manufacturing company.
On the 23rd, SK Hynix announced that its operating profit for the first quarter, on a consolidated basis, stood at 37.6103 trillion won, marking a 405.5% increase compared to the same period last year. Sales rose 198.1% to 52.5763 trillion won, both of which are the highest on a quarterly basis.
Notably, the operating profit nearly doubled from the previous record set in the fourth quarter of last year, which was 19.1696 trillion won. The operating profit margin hit an all-time high of 72%, surpassing the previous quarter’s 58%. Net profit was recorded at 40.3459 trillion won, with a net profit margin of 77%.
SK Hynix noted, “Despite the seasonal off-peak period of the first quarter, robust demand continued due to increased AI infrastructure investment. Sales of high-value-added products, such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM), high-capacity server DRAM modules, and eSSD, have contributed to the upward trend in performance.”
Thanks to the strong performance, the company’s financial structure significantly improved. By the end of the first quarter, cash assets increased by 19.4 trillion won from the previous quarter to 54.3 trillion won, while borrowings decreased by 2.9 trillion won to 19.3 trillion won. As a result, net cash expanded to 35 trillion won.
SK Hynix analyzed that the AI market is evolving from a focus on large model training to a real-time inference-centered ‘Agentic AI’ phase, broadening the memory demand base across DRAM and NAND. The expansion of memory efficiency technology is also expected to further boost demand by enhancing service cost-effectiveness.
Accordingly, the company plans to develop and supply new products across DRAM and NAND to meet diverse demands. It aims to enhance its execution capabilities covering performance, yield, quality, and supply stability for HBM.
For DRAM, SK Hynix will officially implement the 10-nanometer-class 6th generation (1c) process in LPDDR6 and expand the supply of 192GB SOCAMM2. In NAND, it will introduce the consumer SSD ‘PQC21’ with 321 layers and expand the entire lineup of enterprise SSDs.
SK Hynix also plans to strengthen its competitiveness in the AI data center and AI PC storage markets through synergy with its subsidiary, Solidigm.
Investment will be expanded as well. The company intends to significantly increase its investment this year compared to last year, focusing on expanding production capacity at the Cheongju M15X plant, building infrastructure at the Yongin cluster, and securing extreme ultraviolet (EUV) equipment.
SK Hynix stated, “We will strategically expand our production base to proactively respond to medium- and long-term demand growth and secure both supply stability and financial soundness through investments based on demand visibility.”