Driven by demand for artificial intelligence chips, SK Hynix's second-quarter profit increased sixfold, but fell short of expectations
South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix reported on Wednesday that its quarterly operating profit rose more than sixfold to a record high, driven by strong demand for advanced memory chips driven by large technology companies increasing investment in artificial intelligence data centers. The Nvidia supplier reported operating profit of 60.5 trillion won ($41.62 billion) in the April-June period, compared with 9.2 trillion won in the same period last year. However, this figure did not reach the 64 trillion won estimated by LSEG SmartEstimate. In its forecast, the agency focused more on analysts with higher accuracy and more stable forecasts. SK hynix said in a statement: "High-performance products for AI servers led price increases, driven by continued demand growth from the expansion of investment in AI infrastructure, enabling the company's performance to surpass the record set in the previous quarter." SK Hynix failed to meet analysts' expectations because the company has a higher share of its business in high-end memory chips used in AI data centers than its competitors, which means it benefits less from strong increases in traditional memory chip prices. The company said its quarterly revenue rose 257% to 79.3 trillion won.