A customer takes an image of a mannequin of SK hynix’s high-bandwidth reminiscence (HBM) expertise through the 2025 World IT Present in Seoul on April 24, 2025.
Jung Yeon-je | Afp | Getty Pictures
South Korea’s SK Hynix on Thursday posted file working revenue and income within the second quarter, pushed by sustained demand for its excessive bandwidth reminiscence utilized in synthetic intelligence expertise.
Listed here are SK Hynix’s second-quarter outcomes in contrast with LSEG SmartEstimates, that are weighted towards forecasts from analysts who’re extra persistently correct:
- Income: 22.23 trillion received ($16.17 billion) vs. 20.56 trillion received
- Working revenue: 9.21 trillion received vs. 9 trillion received
Income rose over 35% within the June quarter in contrast with the identical interval a 12 months earlier, whereas working revenue rose almost 69%, 12 months on 12 months.
On a quarter-on-quarter foundation, income rose 26%, whereas working revenue jumped 24%.
SK Hynix makes reminiscence chips which might be used to retailer knowledge and will be present in the whole lot from servers to shopper gadgets akin to smartphones and laptops.
The corporate mentioned in an announcement that it loved robust demand and favorable pricing circumstances within the first half of the 12 months. It added that there was a low chance of sharp demand corrections for the remainder of 2025, on account of secure buyer stock ranges and anticipated demand from new product launches.
SK Hynix’s management in dynamic random entry reminiscence — a kind of semiconductor reminiscence generally present in PCs, workstations and servers — has challenged rival Samsung Electronics’ place within the reminiscence house.
The corporate’s shares have been up 1.3%, having risen over 3% in early commerce.
AI dominance
A lot of SK Hynix’s latest success on this space will be credited to its enterprise in excessive bandwidth reminiscence, or HBM — a kind of DRAM used for synthetic intelligence computing. SK Hynix has established itself as the worldwide chief in HBM, supplying purchasers akin to U.S. AI darling Nvidia.
“Demand for AI reminiscence continued to develop, pushed by aggressive AI investments from large tech firms,” Track Hyun-jong, president and head of the Company Middle at SK Hynix, mentioned within the earnings name.
The corporate expects this funding to proceed to drive wholesome demand development within the AI server market, regardless of macro uncertainty, with demand for general-purpose servers additionally anticipated to develop.
Additional improvement of AI brokers with enhanced reasoning fashions will necessitate extra high-performance reminiscence, in response to Track, who added that the proliferation of AI within the PC and smartphone market will increase demand additional.
“Moreover, ongoing investments by governments and firms for fixing AI are prone to turn out to be a brand new long run driver of AI reminiscence demand,” Track mentioned.
The corporate expects to double HBM gross sales for the total 12 months in comparison with 2024 — they contributed 77% to its second-quarter income.
As SK Hynix’s HBM gross sales rise, additionally it is planning to finish preparations for mass manufacturing of its next-generation reminiscence, HBM4, earlier than the tip of this 12 months.
SK Hynix mentioned it anticipated its capital expenditure in 2025 to extend, with “proactive funding” wanted to make sure assist for its HBM prospects in 2026.
Intense competitors
Within the first quarter, SK Hynix’s success in HBM had seen the corporate overtake rival Samsung within the world DRAM marketplace for the primary time, in response to Counterpoint Analysis.
A report from the analysis agency earlier this month discovered that SK Hynix had matched Samsung’s mixed DRAM and NAND revenues within the second quarter, with each now vying for the highest place within the world reminiscence market. NAND is a kind of flash reminiscence that’s used to retailer knowledge in numerous gadgets.
Samsung and U.S.-based reminiscence maker Micron Know-how are each searching for to catch as much as SK Hynix within the HBM house.
Micron is deploying some of its superior merchandise to be used with Nvidia and different prospects akin to AMD. In the meantime, Samsung has reportedly been working to get the newest model of its HBM chips licensed by Nvidia. Nevertheless, analysts count on SK Hynix’s dominance to persist within the short-term.
“As of now, I imagine SK Hynix nonetheless holds its management within the HBM race … regardless of Samsung’s and Micron’s catch‑up efforts,” mentioned Ray Wang, analysis director of semiconductors, provide chain and rising expertise at The Futurum Group.
“I count on this edge to persist by the remainder of 2025 and lengthen into 2026,” he added.
On the earnings name, an SK Hynix consultant had additionally famous that uncertainty round U.S. tariff insurance policies led to elevated buying demand within the first half of the 12 months. Gross sales within the second half might be impacted relying on how future tariff insurance policies evolve, the corporate mentioned.
Amid tariff uncertainty, South Korea introduced a 33 trillion received ($24.1 billion) assist bundle for the nation’s semiconductor trade in April, up a couple of quarter from a bundle dedicated final 12 months.
