SK Hynix Inc, the main supplier of high-bandwidth memory to Nvidia Corp, reported a record quarterly profit that surpassed its bigger rival Samsung.
South Korea’s SK Hynix posted an operating profit of 8.08 trillion won ($5.6 billion) in the December quarter, slightly above the 8 trillion won average forecast by LSEG SmartEstimate. The company also boosted its annual dividend by 25% to 1,500 won a share.
HBM chips accounted for 40% of the company’s total DRAM revenue in the fourth quarter. Overall, its revenue for the quarter rose 75% year-on-year to 19.8 trillion won.
SK Hynix’s operating profit exceeded Samsung’s forecast fourth-quarter operating profit of 6.5 trillion won. This is the first time that SK Hynix's quarterly operating profit beat Samsung’s total operating profit, as its rival lags in supplying high-end HBM chips to Nvidia, Reuters reported.
The company forecast sales of its high-end semiconductors used in generative artificial intelligence chipsets would double this year.
“Demand of HBM and high-density server DRAM... will continue to increase as global big tech companies' investment in AI servers grows and AI inference technology gains importance,” SK Hynix said in a statement.
SK Hynix said it began supply of 12-layer HBM3E chips, the most advanced HBM model currently in mass production, to a customer in the fourth quarter, Reuters reported. It expects it will start supplying even more advanced 16-layer HBM4 chips in the second half of 2026 and that Chinese rivals will face difficulties in developing advanced chips due to US restrictions.
However, SK Hynix share price dropped 4% on Thursday as the company warned of steeper price declines in commodity memory chips used in smartphones and computers, due to slowing demand and growing competition from Chinese rivals.
Ahead of the earnings, SK Hynix shares had jumped about 30% so far this year on bullish sentiment driven by its business discussions with Nvidia. The stock outperformed Samsung, whose shares rose 2% over the same period, Reuters reported.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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