{"slug": "sk-hynixs-q2-profit-rises-sixfold-to-a-record-high-on-ai-chip-demand-but-misses", "title": "SK Hynix’s Q2 profit rises sixfold to a record high on AI chip demand, but misses forecasts", "summary": "SK Hynix reported a record operating profit of 60.5 trillion won for Q2 2024, a more than sixfold increase from 9.2 trillion won a year earlier, driven by AI chip demand, but missed the LSEG SmartEstimate forecast of 64 trillion won. The South Korean chipmaker's higher exposure to high-end memory chips for AI data centers limited its benefit from a stronger price rally in conventional memory chips.", "body_md": "# SK Hynix’s Q2 profit rises sixfold to a record high on AI chip demand, but misses forecasts\n\nFirm has a higher exposure to high-end memory chips used in AI data centres than rivals\n\n[SEOUL] South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix reported a more than sixfold increase in quarterly operating profit to a record high on Wednesday (Jul 29), driven by robust demand for advanced memory chips as big technology firms ramped up spending on AI data centres.\n\nThe Nvidia supplier reported an operating profit of 60.5 trillion won (US$41.6 billion) for the April-June period, compared with 9.2 trillion won a year earlier. But it missed a 64 trillion won forecast by LSEG SmartEstimate, which is weighted toward analysts who are more consistently accurate.\n\n“Driven by sustained demand growth from expanding AI infrastructure investments, high-performance products for AI servers led price increases, enabling the company to surpass its previous record set in the prior quarter,” SK Hynix said in a statement.\n\nSK Hynix missed analysts’ forecasts because its higher exposure to high-end memory chips used in AI data centres than rivals meant it [benefited less from a stronger price rally in conventional memory chips.](https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/sk-hynixs-us570-billion-sell-shows-cracks-memory-chip-boom-ahead-earnings)\n\nContract prices for certain dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips jumped about 52 per cent in the second quarter from the previous quarter, while prices for some Nand products doubled, according to data from market tracker TrendForce.\n\nConcerns about the ability of “hyperscalers” like Microsoft , Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms and Oracle to fund hundreds of billions of dollars of planned investment in AI infrastructure [have weighed on chip shares globally in recent weeks.](https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/wealth/wealth-investing/trillion-dollar-question-hanging-over-ai)\n\nSK Hynix’s net profit rose more than 13-fold, driven in part by non-operating gains. It reported net non-operating profit of 60.9 trillion won, including gains related to investment assets, without providing further details.\n\nKim Sunwoo, a senior analyst at Meritz Securities, estimated that the company recognised cumulative investment gains following the completion in June of the sale of its stake in Japanese Nand flash memory maker Kioxia.\n\nSK Hynix invested about 4 trillion won in Kioxia in 2018 through a Bain Capital-led consortium of US, Japanese and South Korean investors, participating via two special purpose vehicles (SPCs).\n\nThe company said its quarterly revenue rose 257 per cent to 79.3 trillion won. REUTERS\n\nDecoding Asia newsletter: your guide to navigating Asia in a new global order. Sign up here to get Decoding Asia newsletter. Delivered to your inbox. Free.\n\nShare with us your feedback on BT's products and services", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/sk-hynixs-q2-profit-rises-sixfold-to-a-record-high-on-ai-chip-demand-but-misses", "canonical_source": "https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/sk-hynixs-q2-profit-rises-sixfold-record-high-ai-chip-demand-misses-forecasts", "published_at": "2026-07-29 00:01:34+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-29 00:23:39.870394+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-chips", "ai-infrastructure"], "entities": ["SK Hynix", "Nvidia", "LSEG SmartEstimate", "TrendForce", "Microsoft", "Alphabet", "Amazon", "Meta Platforms"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/sk-hynixs-q2-profit-rises-sixfold-to-a-record-high-on-ai-chip-demand-but-misses", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/sk-hynixs-q2-profit-rises-sixfold-to-a-record-high-on-ai-chip-demand-but-misses.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/sk-hynixs-q2-profit-rises-sixfold-to-a-record-high-on-ai-chip-demand-but-misses.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/sk-hynixs-q2-profit-rises-sixfold-to-a-record-high-on-ai-chip-demand-but-misses.jsonld"}}