- SK Hynix, the global memory chipmaker, reported its highest quarterly profit in six years for the second quarter of 2024.
- This financial performance highlights the company’s leadership in providing essential memory solutions for advanced AI applications, including large language models like ChatGPT.
OUR TAKE
SK Hynix is turning things around. After a deficit last year, the company posted a significant profit in the second quarter, marking its strongest performance in six years. Fueled by the AI boom, their high-bandwidth memory (HBM) has become highly sought after, driving prices up rapidly. Despite the impressive performance, SK Hynix’s stock price fell due to broader market declines in South Korea. It appears the market is as unpredictable as the weather. Nonetheless, SK Hynix is capitalising on the AI trend by ramping up production of its new 12-layer HBM3E. The new product promises to be a high-end offering, and we’ll see if it can sustain the momentum.
–Miurio huang, BTW reporter
What happened
SK Hynix, the global memory chipmaker, reported its highest quarterly profit in six years for the second quarter of 2024. The company achieved a revenue of 16.42 trillion Korean won ($11.86 billion) and an operating profit of 5.47 trillion Korean won. This marks a significant turnaround from a loss of 2.88 trillion won in the same period last year and a 124.7% increase in revenue compared to a year ago.
The surge in SK Hynix’s financial performance is attributed to robust demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips essential for artificial intelligence (AI) computing. The company noted that the overall prices of its memory products have risen due to strong demand for AI memory, leading to a 32% revenue increase from the previous quarter. This revenue figure is the highest quarterly result recorded by the firm since it began reporting data in 2009.
Despite the impressive financial results, SK Hynix’s stock fell by as much as 7.81% on Thursday morning. This decline was influenced by a broader drop in South Korea’s Kospi index, which fell 1.91% following disappointing earnings reports from major U.S. tech companies like Alphabet and Tesla.
Looking ahead, SK Hynix plans to capitalise on the ongoing demand for AI by continuing to lead in the HBM market. The company announced its intention to begin mass production of a new 12-layer HBM3E product this quarter, with shipments expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2024. The expansion in HBM production comes amid tight supply conditions for both HBM and conventional dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) products.
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Why it’s important
SK Hynix’s record quarterly profit underscores the critical role of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips in the booming AI sector. This financial performance highlights the company’s leadership in providing essential memory solutions for advanced AI applications, including large language models like ChatGPT.
The surge in SK Hynix’s revenue and operating profit reflects the rising demand for HBM chips, which are vital for high-performance AI tasks. As AI technology evolves, the need for high-capacity memory chips to support complex computations and extensive data processing is increasing. SK Hynix’s success showcases its adaptation to these industry trends and strategic positioning in the AI memory market.
The company’s expansion of HBM production capacity responds to the tight supply of high-performance memory chips, driven by growing AI technologies. SK Hynix’s investment in new HBM products and capital expenditure aims to secure its position as a leading supplier.
With the anticipated launch of the next-generation 12-layer HBM4 in late 2025, SK Hynix is committed to maintaining its market leadership. Its financial performance and innovation in memory technology underscore its pivotal role in the future of AI and computing advancements.
