The SK Hynix Inc. brand is displayed on a glass door on the firm’s workplace in Seoul, South Korea, on Monday, Jan. 27, 2014. SK Hynix goals to pick a U.S. website for its superior chip packaging plant and break floor there across the first quarter of subsequent yr.
SeongJoon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Photos
South Korea’s SK Hynix on Thursday posted file working revenue and income within the second quarter on sustained demand for its excessive bandwidth reminiscence expertise utilized in generative AI chipsets.
Listed here are SK Hynix’s second-quarter outcomes in contrast with LSEG SmartEstimates, that are weighted towards forecasts from analysts who’re extra constantly correct:
- Income: 22.23 trillion received ($16.17 billion) vs. 20.56 trillion received
- Working revenue: 9.21 trillion received vs. 9 trillion received
Income rose over 35% within the June quarter in contrast with the identical interval a yr earlier, whereas working revenue rose practically 69%, yr on yr.
On a quarter-on-quarter foundation, income rose 26%, whereas working revenue jumped 24%.
The corporate stated in a press release that it loved sturdy demand and favorable pricing situations within the first half of the yr. SK Hynix added that there was a low probability of sharp demand corrections for the remainder of 2025, attributable to secure buyer stock ranges and anticipated demand from new product launches.
SK Hynix is a number one provider of dynamic random entry reminiscence — a kind of semiconductor reminiscence generally present in PCs, workstations and servers that’s used to retailer information and program code.
A lot of the corporate’s current success might be credited to its enterprise in excessive bandwidth reminiscence, or HBM — a kind of DRAM used for synthetic intelligence computing.
“Demand for AI reminiscence continued to develop, pushed by aggressive AI investments from large tech corporations,” Track Hyun-jong, president and head of the Company Heart at SK Hynix, stated within the earnings name.
The corporate expects this funding to proceed to drive wholesome demand development within the server market, regardless of macro uncertainty, with demand for general-purpose servers additionally anticipated to develop.
Additional improvement of AI brokers with enhanced reasoning fashions will necessitate extra high-performance reminiscence, in keeping with Track, who added that the proliferation of AI within the PC and smartphone market will enhance demand additional.
“Moreover, ongoing investments by governments and firms for fixing AI are prone to turn out to be a brand new long run driver of AI reminiscence demand,” Track stated.
SK Hynix has established itself as the worldwide chief in HBM, supplying purchasers similar to U.S. AI darling Nvidia. The corporate expects to double HBM gross sales for the total yr in comparison with 2024 — they contributed 77% to its second-quarter income.
The corporate stated it anticipated its capital expenditure in 2025 to extend, with “proactive funding” wanted to make sure help for its HBM clients in 2026.
Within the first quarter, SK Hynix’s success in HBM had seen the corporate overtake rival Samsung Electronics within the world DRAM marketplace for the primary time, in keeping with Counterpoint Analysis.
A report from Counterpoint Analysis earlier this month estimated that SK Hynix had tied Samsung’s mixed DRAM and NAND revenues within the second quarter, with each vying for the highest place within the world reminiscence market. NAND is a kind of flash reminiscence that’s generally utilized in storage units.
Samsung and US.-based reminiscence maker Micron Know-how are each looking for to catch as much as SK Hynix within the HBM house. Nonetheless, analysts anticipate SK Hynix’s dominance to persist within the short-term.
“As of now, I consider SK Hynix nonetheless holds its management within the HBM race … regardless of Samsung’s and Micron’s catch‑up efforts,” stated Ray Wang, analysis director of semiconductors, provide chain and rising expertise at The Futurum Group.
“I anticipate this edge to persist by the remainder of 2025 and prolong into 2026,” he added.
