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SK hynix Reports Record Quarterly Profits Driven by AI Demand

Strong Performance Fueled by Nvidia's AI Push

South Korean chip giant SK hynix announced record quarterly profits driven by surging global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and positive outlook for the next year. The world's second-largest memory chip maker dominates the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) semiconductor market and is a key supplier to AI giant Nvidia.

SK hynix reported a net profit of $4.17 billion in the third quarter of this year, along with an operating profit of $4.7 billion, exceeding the previous record set in the third quarter of 2018, during the peak of the semiconductor boom. These impressive results come after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) announced last week a larger-than-expected increase in its third-quarter net profit, raising its growth forecast for the year due to “extremely strong” demand for AI technology.

HBM Revenue Soars

SK hynix's revenue soared 94% year-on-year to $12 billion, the highest ever, with the company attributing the increase to “expansion in sales of premium products such as HBM and eSSD.” HBM chip revenue climbed more than 70% from the previous quarter and 330% year-on-year.

Continued Growth Expected

The company stated in a press release, “While demand for memory for AI servers such as HBM and eSSD has grown significantly this year, the company expects this trend to continue next year.” SK hynix added, “This is because generative AI is evolving into a multi-modal form and major global tech companies continue to invest in developing general AI.”

HBM3E Production On Track

Despite the positive news, SK hynix shares declined in early Seoul trading. CFO Kim Woo-hyun said, “SK hynix strengthened its position as the world’s No. 1 AI memory company by achieving its highest-ever business performance in the third quarter of this year.”

SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung stated this week that the company remains on track to begin mass production and supply of advanced HBM3E AI chips to clients, including Nvidia, which controls approximately 80% of the global AI semiconductor market. Kwak informed reporters, “There is no change in our schedule” for mass production of the 12-layer HBM3E by the end of the year. He added, “Everything is going well in terms of shipping and supply timing.”

HBM Market Expansion

Taipei-based research firm Trendforce Group predicted that the global HBM market will expand by 156% next year, rising from $18.2 billion this year to $46.7 billion.