South Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix posted record profits and sales for the quarter on Thursday, as product prices continue to soar on the back of strong AI demand. Earnings were generally in line with expectations, but profits were lower than expected.
Below is a comparison of SK Hynix’s Q1 results and LSEG’s prudent forecast. These focus on more consistently accurate analyst forecasts.
Revenue: 52.58 trillion won ($35.55 billion) vs. 53.55 trillion won Operating profit: 37.61 trillion won vs. 37.92 trillion won
Sales in the March quarter nearly tripled compared to the same period last year, exceeding 50 trillion won for the first time.
Operating profit increased five times year-over-year and nearly doubled from the previous quarter, with operating margin reaching a record high of 72%.
The company’s shares were trading up about 2.5% in early trading in South Korea.
SK Hynix makes memory chips used to store data in everything from servers to smartphones and laptops.
The company attributed the record profits to rising memory prices and surging demand for artificial intelligence, making SK Hynix the world’s leading supplier of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in AI data centers.
“(D)Despite what is typically a seasonal downturn in the first quarter, demand continued to be strong due to increased investment in AI infrastructure,” the company said in its earnings release.
The company added that the base of memory demands continues to grow as artificial intelligence evolves from training large models to agent AI that repeatedly performs real-time inference in a variety of service environments.
“Memory is more important than ever…IT companies now believe that availability is more important than price,” an SK Hynix executive said during an earnings call on Thursday.
SK Hynix’s HBM technology falls into the broader category of dynamic random access memory (DRAM). DRAM is a type of semiconductor memory used to store data and program code used in PCs, workstations, and servers.
SK Hynix has gained an advantage over its rivals such as: micron and samsung electronics in the DRAM market thanks to its early lead in HBM and its role as a key supplier to the world’s leading AI processor manufacturers. Nvidia. But competitors are working to close the gap.
Samsung Electronics announced in February that it had started shipping its cutting-edge HBM4 chip to an unnamed customer, after SK Hynix started shipping HBM4 samples in March 2025. Samsung stock hit a new intraday record of 227,000 shares on Thursday.
HBM4 is the sixth generation of HBM technology and the most advanced version to date. It is expected to be the primary AI memory chip used in Nvidia’s next-generation Vera Rubin architecture, designed for powerful AI workloads in data centers.
Samsung managed to regain the top spot in DRAM revenue in the last three months of 2025, while SK Hynix continues to dominate in HBM with a 57% market share, according to data from Counterpoint Research.
Counterpoint added that the DRAM market has recorded 30% quarter-on-quarter growth for two consecutive quarters due to rising memory prices.
The soaring memory prices are being driven by a surge in demand for HBM, which is taking up manufacturers’ production capacity and causing widespread memory shortages in recent quarters.
SK Group Chairman Choi Tae-won reportedly said in March 2026 that the global chip wafer shortage is likely to continue until 2030 as demand for HBM continues to outstrip supply, straining manufacturing capacity.
He added that it could take at least four to five years to build up additional supply of wafers, and the shortfall is expected to exceed 20%.
SK Hynix is actively expanding its production capacity to meet rising demand. The company reportedly announced on Wednesday plans to invest 19 trillion won in a new manufacturing plant in South Korea.
MS Hwang, a research analyst at Counterpoint Research, told CNBC that memory companies’ first-quarter results “demonstrate strong profitability, making it clear that AI inference requires more memory than expected as companies scramble to secure supply.”
Even if the upward trend in memory prices slows down in the second half, SK Hynix’s profits may continue to increase throughout this year, he added.
But the company could face headwinds if the Middle East conflict drags on beyond the second quarter, further disrupting the supply of helium and other materials critical to semiconductor manufacturing.
Huang said such a scenario could have a significant impact on the entire AI supply chain, but it is not expected to be a long-term problem.
