SK Hynix Q2 Profit Surges 557% to Record, Misses Estimates
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- SK Hynix posted Q2 operating profit of 60.54 trillion won, up 557% year-on-year to a record — but below the 64 trillion won LSEG SmartEstimates forecast.
- Revenue came in at 79.32 trillion won ($54.55 billion), missing the 84 trillion won estimate while still jumping 257% year-on-year and rising 51% sequentially from Q1.
- AI memory demand lifted both DRAM and NAND flash prices quarter-over-quarter, with SK Hynix leaning into HBM, AI-server DRAM, and enterprise SSDs for what it called top-tier profitability.
- HBM4 mass shipments began in Q2 with production ramping in H2, while HBM4E sample shipments were completed during the first half of the year.
- 321-layer NAND products now hold the largest share of SK Hynix's total NAND production, targeted to reach roughly 50% of domestic capacity by year-end.
- Nvidia is a key SK Hynix client, with the two companies recently expanding a multiyear memory deal valued at over $500 billion.
- First-half cumulative revenue crossed 100 trillion won for the first time in company history, underscoring the scale of the AI-driven memory cycle.
Why it matters: SK Hynix's 557% profit surge still fell short of the 64 trillion won consensus by roughly 3.5 trillion won, signaling analysts are underestimating the pace of AI memory demand growth. Nvidia's expanded $500 billion multiyear supply commitment underscores how tight HBM supply has become for the largest AI infrastructure builders.
