SK hynix Achieves Record Q3 Revenues Amid Ongoing Memory Shortage

SK hynix reported impressive financial results for the third quarter of 2026, achieving revenues of KRW 104.6 trillion. This marks the first time the company’s quarterly sales have surpassed the KRW 100 trillion threshold.

The company also reported substantial profits, with an operating profit of KRW 83.3 trillion and a net profit of KRW 39.8 trillion. This translates to an operating margin of 80% and a net margin of 38%.

At the end of Q3, SK hynix had cash and cash equivalents totaling KRW 114.5 trillion, an increase of KRW 26.5 trillion from the previous quarter. Borrowings decreased to KRW 15.8 trillion, down KRW 2.8 trillion, resulting in a net cash position of KRW 98.7 trillion.

Sales of high-bandwidth memory (HBM4) for servers have seen significant growth. SK hynix expects HBM4 to surpass HBM3E in both volume and revenue in the next quarter, establishing it as the company’s mainstream product.

Additionally, sales of server DDR5 RAM have expanded significantly, driven by increasing demand for LPDDR5 SOCAMM for AI servers. The new M15X fabrication facility is expected to reach full capacity by the end of the year, producing 55,000 to 60,000 wafers per month of 1b DRAM chips. The share of next-generation 1c DRAM, used in the company’s LPDDR6, is also on the rise.

In the NAND flash segment, SK hynix noted growing sales of 321-layer TLC chips for embedded SSDs. The company anticipates that production of these chips will constitute over half of its domestic production capacity by year-end. Furthermore, SK hynix is developing High Bandwidth Flash (HBF) for AI servers, which is designed for longer-term storage compared to RAM.

In its financial results press release, SK hynix issued a warning that the memory supply shortage is expected to persist through 2030. The company plans to accelerate the expansion of its production capacity, but it will take time to meet the growing demand. In the short term, enterprise and personal AI applications are projected to drive the majority of demand, while AI for autonomous driving and robotics is anticipated to contribute significantly in the mid-to-long term.

According to a Counterpoint Research report from September, SK hynix ranked as the second-largest DRAM manufacturer globally by revenue, holding a 25% market share, compared to Samsung’s 38% and Micron’s 24%. All three companies supply LPDDR and NAND memory to Apple and other smartphone manufacturers.

SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-Jung addressed the company’s decision to cancel its plans for a Solidigm IPO, stating, “The IPO was intended to raise external capital for the expansion of Solidigm’s production facilities… However, after carefully considering recent financial market conditions and other factors, we concluded that proceeding at this time would not be the best way to achieve the originally anticipated outcome. We have therefore discontinued our review.”

Source: GSMArena