SK Hynix Posts Record Operating Profit of 83 Trillion Won in Q3

SK Hynix posted an operating profit of 83.3 trillion won for the third quarter, its best-ever result. Far exceeding market forecasts, the figures show just how rapidly the semiconductor industry is recovering, backed by robust demand for memory chips used in artificial intelligence.

Memory chips were the main driver of earnings growth. Shipments of HBM4, the sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory, accelerated and led revenue, while rising sales of server-grade DDR5 memory also supported DRAM results. SSD storage sales grew as well on increasing data center demand.

"Customer trust built on our technological competitiveness is translating into long-term contracts, improving visibility into mid- to long-term demand and enabling stable profitability," said Kwak Noh-jung, CEO of SK Hynix. Vice President Park Joon-deok said the investment base is expanding rapidly, "spanning not only cloud service providers but also companies building their own AI infrastructure, sovereign AI investments, and on-premises demand." The company forecast that memory supply would remain short through 2030 at this pace.

With its cash holdings rising, SK Hynix plans shareholder returns totaling 100 trillion won this year alone. After completing a 40 trillion won share buyback, it will purchase an additional 20 trillion won worth of shares in the third quarter and pay 14 trillion won in cash dividends. Shareholders who buy SK Hynix stock through November 26 will receive a dividend of 20,000 won per share by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics' third-quarter results announced the same day included a shareholder return plan of up to 110 trillion won.