SEOUL: South Korean semiconductor manufacturer SK hynix reported a sharp rise in second-quarter earnings on Wednesday, driven by strong global demand for advanced memory chips used in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.
The company said net profit jumped 1,242 per cent from a year earlier, while operating profit increased 557 per cent during the April-June quarter, delivering what it described as its strongest quarterly performance on record.
Revenue also rose significantly, supported by robust sales of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, which are widely used in AI systems. SK hynix is a major supplier of HBM chips to US technology company Nvidia.
The company said growing investment by global technology firms in AI data centres continued to fuel demand for advanced memory products and expected the trend to remain strong.
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Despite concerns that spending on AI infrastructure could slow, SK hynix said the market was entering a phase of optimising and expanding existing AI investments rather than scaling them back.
The company’s quarterly results were further boosted by the one-off sale of its stake in flash memory maker Kioxia.
SK hynix also announced plans to invest around 40 trillion won this year to expand production capacity and strengthen its position in the fast-growing AI semiconductor market.
Earlier this month, the company raised US$26.5 billion through an American Depositary Receipt listing in the United States, one of the largest equity offerings in recent years.
Samsung Electronics, South Korea’s largest chipmaker and SK hynix’s main rival, is expected to announce its quarterly earnings later this week.
