SK Hynix posts record first-quarter profit, in line with estimates as memory prices climb

South Korean reminiscence chip large SK Hynix posted yet one more quarter of file revenue and income on Thursday, as costs for its merchandise proceed to surge amid robust AI demand. Whereas its earnings had been broadly according to estimates, income missed forecasts.

Listed here are SK Hynix’s first-quarter outcomes versus LSEG sensible estimates, that are weighted towards forecasts from analysts who’re extra constantly correct:

• Income: 52.58 trillion gained ($35.55 billion) vs. 53.55 trillion gained
• Working revenue: 37.61 trillion gained vs. 37.92 trillion gained

Income within the March quarter almost tripled from the identical interval final 12 months, surpassing 50 trillion gained for the primary time.

Working revenue grew by an element of 5 year-over-year and almost doubled from the earlier quarter, whereas working margin additionally reached an all-time excessive of 72%.

SK Hynix makes reminiscence chips used to retailer knowledge, that are present in all the things from servers to smartphones and laptops.

The corporate has benefited from a increase in synthetic intelligence demand because the world’s main provider of high-bandwidth reminiscence, or HBM, utilized in AI datacenters. 

“SK Hynix famous that even supposing first quarter is usually a seasonal downturn, robust demand continued because of expanded investments in AI infrastructure,” the corporate mentioned in its earnings launch. 

HBM falls into the broader class of dynamic random entry reminiscence, or DRAM — a sort of semiconductor reminiscence used to retailer knowledge and program code that may be present in PCs, workstations and servers.

SK Hynix had gained an edge over rivals like Micron and Samsung within the DRAM market, due to its early lead in HBM and its function as a key provider to the world’s main AI processor maker Nvidia. 

Nonetheless, Samsung reclaimed the highest spot in DRAM income within the final three months of the 12 months, in keeping with data from Counterpoint Analysis. In the meantime, SK Hynix continued to dominate in HBM with a 57% market share.

Counterpoint added that the DRAM market has recorded 30% quarter-over-quarter development for 2 consecutive quarters because of rising reminiscence costs.

Rising reminiscence costs have resulted from surging demand for HBM, which has occupied producers’ capability, triggering a broader reminiscence scarcity in latest quarters.

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won reportedly acknowledged in March 2026 that the worldwide chip wafer scarcity is more likely to persist till 2030, as demand for HBM continues to outpace provide and pressure manufacturing capability.

He added that constructing extra wafer provide might take no less than 4 to 5 years, with a projected shortfall exceeding 20%.