Seoul: SK hynix Inc. is projected to achieve a record high operating profit of 64.1 trillion won (US$43.7 billion) in the second quarter, fueled by its dominance in the high bandwidth memory (HBM) sector during an AI-driven semiconductor surge, a report revealed on Sunday. A consensus estimate compiled by Yonhap Infomax, which included forecasts from 14 local brokerages, indicated that SK hynix is expected to record 84.1 trillion won in sales and 64.1 trillion won in operating profit for the April-June period.
According to Yonhap News Agency, these figures would surpass the company's previous annual operating profit record of 47.2 trillion won set in 2025. The operating profit margin for the company is anticipated to reach approximately 75-77 percent for the second quarter, slightly up from 75 percent in the first quarter.
The forecast aligns broadly with Samsung Electronics Co.'s second-quarter earnings guidance released earlier this month, which projected a record quarterly operating profit of 89.4 trillion won. If SK hynix reports its second-quarter earnings as predicted on Wednesday, the two leading memory chipmakers in the country are expected to report a combined operating profit exceeding 150 trillion won.
Analysts have attributed the robust quarterly earnings to the increase in memory chip prices and strong demand for HBM and solid-state drives (SSDs) used in AI data centers. Kim Dong-won, a researcher at KB Securities Co., noted, "Sales to global tech companies and AI data center operators are expected to account for 70 percent of SK hynix's total revenue in the second quarter."