SK Hynix Gains Early After Posting 60.5 Trillion-Won Operating Profit; Samsung Electronics Rebounds
Summary
- SK Hynix rose 3.03% in early trading and Samsung Electronics gained 4.09%, rebounding after steep losses in the previous session.
- SK Hynix said second-quarter operating profit was 60.5426 trillion won, revenue was 79.3187 trillion won, and net income was 93.9226 trillion won, marking sharp increases from a year earlier.
- SK Hynix said its financial position improved, with 88 trillion won in cash and cash equivalents and 69.4 trillion won in net cash, and said demand should remain strong on the back of AI infrastructure investment, memory demand growth, and long-term supply agreements (LTAs).
Forecast Trend Report by Period
SK Hynix rose in early trading on July 29, rebounding after a sharp selloff in the previous session.
As of 9:04 a.m., SK Hynix shares were up 3.03% from the previous close at 1.597 million won. Samsung Electronics gained 4.09% to 229,000 won. The two stocks had fallen about 14% and 13%, respectively, the day before.
Before the market opened, SK Hynix reported preliminary second-quarter operating profit of 60.5426 trillion won, up 557.2% from a year earlier. That exceeded the company's full-year 2025 operating profit of 47.2063 trillion won, though the result came in slightly below market expectations.
Revenue rose 256.8% to 79.3187 trillion won, while net income surged 1,242.5% to 93.9226 trillion won.
SK Hynix said both DRAM and NAND flash prices posted sharp gains from the previous quarter. Higher sales of high-value products including high-bandwidth memory, DRAM for AI servers and enterprise SSDs drove record profitability, the company said.
At the end of the second quarter, SK Hynix held 88 trillion won in cash and cash equivalents, up 33.6 trillion won from the end of the previous quarter.
Borrowings fell by 700 billion won to 18.6 trillion won, expanding net cash to 69.4 trillion won.
SK Hynix said additional supply requests are continuing as Big Tech companies expand investment in AI infrastructure. The company said memory demand growth should continue because those investments are being funded by revenue generated from AI services.
Based on that demand outlook, SK Hynix has completed negotiations on long-term supply agreements, or LTAs, with more than 10 customers. Additional talks with key clients are continuing.
Kim Young-geon, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities, said changes in industry conditions and fundamentals remain limited even as valuations have fallen sharply. The recent share-price correction looks excessive given higher return on equity and solid earnings, he added.
Noh Jung-dong, Hankyung.com reporter, dong2@hankyung.com
Korea Economic Daily
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