SK Hynix Shares Fall 13% on Record-Profit Miss
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- SK Hynix reported Q2 operating profit of 60.5 trillion won ($41.62 billion), a 557% year-over-year jump from 9.2 trillion won, setting a new record for the South Korean chipmaker
- The result missed the LSEG SmartEstimate forecast of 64 trillion won, with the shortfall attributed to SK Hynix's heavier weighting toward AI-focused high-end memory chips
- Quarterly revenue climbed 257% to 79.3 trillion won, fueled by big tech firms ramping up spending on AI data center infrastructure
- High-performance memory products for AI servers drove price increases, allowing SK Hynix to surpass its prior-quarter record before this latest result
- Shares slumped 13% after the announcement, despite SK Hynix's status as a key Nvidia supplier benefiting from the broader AI chip boom
- SK Hynix benefited less from a stronger price rally in conventional memory chips than rivals, because its product mix is more concentrated in the AI-tier segment
Why it matters: SK Hynix's 557% profit surge and 257% revenue jump couldn't clear a 64-trillion-won analyst bar — the stock fell 13% anyway. The underlying reason: SK Hynix's heavier AI memory weighting meant it captured less of the conventional memory rally that lifted rivals. For shareholders, AI-pure-play positioning cuts both ways when commodity segments unexpectedly outperform.
