SK Hynix Q3 profit surges 632% to record $63B
What's the story
South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix has reported a stellar performance in the third quarter of 2026. The company posted a revenue of 104.62 trillion won ($78.86 billion) and an operating profit of 83.33 trillion won ($62.8 billion) for the July-September period. The figures were way above analysts' expectations, with revenue beating estimates by over six trillion won and operating profit exceeding predictions by around seven trillion won.
Financial growth
Year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter growth
SK Hynix's revenue for Q3 2026 marks a whopping 327.9% increase from the same period last year.
The company's operating profit also saw a massive jump of 632.1% year-on-year.
Compared to the previous quarter, both revenue and operating profit rose by 31.9% and 37.6%, respectively, highlighting the company's strong financial performance in recent months.
Market influence
AI boom fuels memory chip demand
SK Hynix, a major supplier of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips to NVIDIA, has benefited greatly from the global AI infrastructure boom.
The company's strong financial performance is largely driven by the growing demand for its HBM chips and other memory products used in AI infrastructure.
In Q3 2026 alone, SK Hynix's net profit rose by an impressive 215.7% year-on-year to 39.78 trillion won.
Strategic moves
Other highlights from SK Hynix's stellar Q3 performance
SK Hynix expects its latest-generation HBM4 chips to outperform HBM3E in shipments and revenue by Q4 2026.
The company has long-term agreements with 14 major customers covering over half of its production capacity for 2027 and 2028.
Despite recent market volatility, SK Hynix plans to return about 100 trillion won to shareholders this year through cash dividends and share buybacks/cancellations.