{"id":65571,"date":"2026-07-28T19:08:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T23:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/sk-hynix-hits-record-q2-profit-on-ai-demand-despite-revenue-and-operating-miss\/65571\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T19:08:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T23:08:16","slug":"sk-hynix-hits-record-q2-profit-on-ai-demand-despite-revenue-and-operating-miss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/sk-hynix-hits-record-q2-profit-on-ai-demand-despite-revenue-and-operating-miss\/65571\/","title":{"rendered":"SK Hynix Hits Record Q2 Profit on AI Demand Despite Revenue and Operating Miss"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>SK Hynix (<a href=\"\/stock\/000660\">000660<\/a>) reported an all-time high quarterly operating profit of KRW 60.54 trillion<\/strong>, a massive <strong>557% increase year-over-year<\/strong>, though it fell short of the <strong>KRW 64.22 trillion<\/strong> analyst consensus.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Net profit surged to KRW 93.82 trillion<\/strong>, vastly outperforming the estimated <strong>KRW 54.32 trillion<\/strong>, primarily driven by a significant <strong>KRW 27.4 billion windfall<\/strong> from the company&#39;s investment in <strong>Kioxia<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Quarterly revenue reached KRW 79.32 trillion<\/strong>, missing the <strong>KRW 83.85 trillion<\/strong> estimate, as the company&#39;s heavy focus on high-end AI memory meant it benefited less from the broader price rally in conventional chips.<\/li>\n<li><strong>AI-related demand remains the primary growth engine<\/strong>, with sales to global tech giants and data center operators expected to account for <strong>70% of total revenue<\/strong> in the second quarter.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>AI Infrastructure Drives Record Performance<\/h2>\n<p>SK Hynix (<a href=\"\/stock\/000660\">000660<\/a>) announced record-breaking results for the second quarter of 2026, fueled by the ongoing &quot;supercycle&quot; in artificial intelligence infrastructure. The company, a primary supplier to <a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock\/NVDA\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"15\" title=\"stock: NVDA\">Nvidia<\/a> (<a href=\"\/stock\/NVDA\">NVDA<\/a>), saw its <strong>operating profit jump 557%<\/strong> compared to the same period last year. This performance pushed cumulative first-half revenue past the <strong>KRW 100 trillion mark<\/strong> for the first time in the company&#39;s history.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the record numbers, the results presented a mixed bag for investors. Both <strong>sales (KRW 79.32 trillion)<\/strong> and <strong>operating profit (KRW 60.54 trillion)<\/strong> missed market expectations. Analysts noted that while SK Hynix (<a href=\"\/stock\/SKHY\">SKHY<\/a>) dominates the high-margin <strong>High Bandwidth Memory (HBM)<\/strong> market, its lower exposure to conventional memory chips\u2014which saw a sharper price rally this quarter\u2014led to the slight miss against consensus.<\/p>\n<h2>Kioxia Windfall Boosts Bottom Line<\/h2>\n<p>The most striking figure in the report was the <strong>net profit of KRW 93.82 trillion<\/strong>, which nearly doubled analyst projections. This surge was largely attributed to non-operating income related to the company&#39;s stake in Japanese chipmaker <strong>Kioxia<\/strong>. Following <strong>Bain Capital&#39;s<\/strong> exit and the revaluation of assets, SK Hynix (<a href=\"\/stock\/000660\">000660<\/a>) recognized a massive gain, significantly strengthening its financial health.<\/p>\n<p>Management emphasized that this capital will be used to reinforce <strong>production capacity<\/strong> and maintain <strong>CapEx discipline<\/strong>. The company is preparing for mid-to-long-term growth by investing in its <strong>Yongin cluster infrastructure<\/strong> and ramping up <strong>EUV equipment<\/strong> to maintain its technological edge in the next generation of memory.<\/p>\n<h2>Future Outlook and HBM4 Leadership<\/h2>\n<p>Looking ahead, SK Hynix (<a href=\"\/stock\/000660\">000660<\/a>) remains optimistic about the structural growth of AI demand. The company revealed it has secured <strong>long-term agreements with approximately 10 key customers<\/strong>, ensuring stable demand for its high-performance products. Its next-generation <strong>HBM4<\/strong> has already achieved the operating speeds and power efficiency required by top-tier customers, positioning the firm to lead the market into 2027.<\/p>\n<p>However, the stock has faced recent volatility, including a record <strong>15% tumble<\/strong> earlier in July due to concerns over an overstretched AI rally and a rotation into its newly listed <strong>U.S. American Depositary Receipts (ADRs)<\/strong>. Investors are now weighing whether the current valuation accurately reflects the &quot;pricing debate&quot; versus the undeniable strength in physical demand for AI memory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways SK Hynix (000660) reported an all-time high quarterly operating profit of KRW 60.54 trillion, a massive 557% increase [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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