SK hynix Records All-Time High Q1 Operating Profit of 37.6 Trillion Won...Operating Margin Surpasses Even Nvidia (Comprehensive)

Previous Quarter’s Record Broken in Just One Quarter
Sales Reach 52.6 Trillion Won, Ushering in the “50 Trillion Won Era”
Financial Soundness Strengthened With 35 Trillion Won Net Cash
Full Commitment to Expanding Supply Capabilities, Including Construction of ‘P&T7’

SK hynix has once again proven its position as the undisputed leader in AI memory, posting its best-ever quarterly performance on the back of surging demand for artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors.

On April 23, SK hynix announced that in the first quarter, it posted sales of 52.5763 trillion won and an operating profit of 37.6103 trillion won. These figures broke the previous all-time quarterly records—sales of 32.8267 trillion won and operating profit of 19.1696 trillion won—set just one quarter earlier. Notably, sales surpassed the 50 trillion won mark for the first time in a quarter, and operating profit jumped by 95% from the previous quarter, reaching a new all-time high.

This performance far exceeded market expectations. According to financial information provider FnGuide, the consensus for SK hynix’s consolidated first-quarter operating profit and sales was 34.8753 trillion won and 50.1046 trillion won, respectively, but the actual results were much higher.

The most notable point is the company’s profitability, which far outpaces its competitors. SK hynix’s operating margin for the first quarter stood at 72%, surging by 30 percentage points from 42% in the same period last year. This figure surpasses even global big tech giants such as Nvidia (67.7%), TSMC (58.1%), and Samsung Electronics (43%). It is considered extremely rare for a global manufacturing company to record an operating margin in the 70% range.

The strong results also improved the company’s financial soundness. As of the end of the first quarter, cash and cash equivalents rose by 19.4 trillion won from the previous quarter to 54.3 trillion won, while debt decreased by 2.9 trillion won to 19.3 trillion won, giving the company a net cash position of 35 trillion won.

The impressive performance was driven by increased sales of high-value-added products such as HBM (high bandwidth memory), large-capacity server DRAM modules, and eSSD, following expanded investments in AI infrastructure. SK hynix explained, “As AI evolves beyond model training to the ‘agentic AI’ phase, which performs real-time inference, memory demand is expanding across both DRAM and NAND.”

The shortage of memory semiconductors and the resulting price increases also contributed to the performance. Market research firm TrendForce estimated that the contract price for general-purpose DRAM soared by 90–95% in the first quarter compared to the previous quarter. The market estimates SK hynix’s operating margins for DRAM and NAND at 74% and 48%, respectively, with the operating margin for general-purpose DRAM expected to reach as high as 84%.

SK hynix plans to respond to diversified AI memory demand by supplying new products across both DRAM and NAND. The company aims to further enhance the yield and quality competitiveness of HBM, and will also ramp up supply of LPDDR6—which uses the world’s first 10-nanometer-class sixth-generation (1c) process—and the next-generation 192GB SOCAMM2 module that began mass production this month.

The headquarters of SK hynix in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

The reasons behind the strong performance and future market trends were further detailed by the management. Woohyun Kim, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of SK hynix, announced plans to expand supplies of sixth-generation high bandwidth memory HBM4 to Nvidia during the first-quarter earnings conference call. Kim stated, “We have been working closely with customers from the initial stages, planning to ramp up supply in line with agreed schedules for products that meet customers’ required performance.” He further emphasized, “Since comprehensive execution capabilities—encompassing performance, yield, quality, and supply stability—determine the company’s competitiveness, we are focusing our efforts on strengthening these capabilities.”

He predicted that the current shortage in memory supply will continue for the time being. Kim said, “It is practically difficult for suppliers to ramp up supply in the short term,” and explained, “As the shortage persists, the memory price upcycle is likely to last longer than in the past.”

In response to these supply constraints, SK hynix is accelerating the expansion of its supply base. The company has begun construction of P&T7, a 19 trillion won AI memory packaging dedicated factory in Cheongju, Chungbuk. In addition, SK hynix plans to significantly increase investments this year to boost the operation rate of the Cheongju M15X plant and to secure core extreme ultraviolet (EUV) equipment for the semiconductor cluster being established in Yongin.

Aerial view of 'P&T7,' the AI memory packaging dedicated factory that SK Hynix is building in Cheongju, Chungbuk. SK Hynix

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.