South Korea · Agentic AI · Nvidia · CNBC Technology
SK Hynix makes memory chips used to store data, which are found in everything from servers to smartphones and laptops
Compiled by KHAO Editorial — aggregated from 2 outlets. See llms.txt for citation guidance.
◎ Multiple-sources
The company attributed its record earnings to rising memory prices and booming artificial intelligence demand, with SK Hynix representing the world's leading supplier of high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, used in AI datacenters.
Key facts
- Samsung managed to reclaim the top spot in DRAM revenue in the last three months of 2025, according to data from Counterpoint Research, though SK Hynix continued to dominate in HBM with a 57% market
- SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won reportedly stated in March 2026 that the global chip wafer shortage is likely to persist until 2030, as demand for HBM continues to outpace supply and strain
- The company's shares were trading about 2.5% higher in early trading in South Korea
- Samsung Electronics said in February that it had started shipping its most advanced HBM4 chips to unnamed customers, after SK Hynix began delivering its HBM4 samples in March 2025
Summary
South Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix posted yet another quarter of record profit and revenue on Thursday, as prices for its products continue to surge amid strong AI demand. Here are SK Hynix's first-quarter results versus LSEG smart estimates, which are weighted toward forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate:. Operating profit: 37.61 trillion won vs. 37.92 trillion won. Revenue in the March quarter nearly tripled from the same period last year, surpassing 50 trillion won for the first time. Operating profit grew by a factor of five year-over-year and nearly doubled from the previous quarter, while operating margin also reached an all-time high of 72%.