SK Hynix shares surged after the company reported a record September-quarter operating profit of 83.3 trillion won, a more than seven-fold jump from 11.4 trillion won a year earlier. In pre-market trading, SK Hynix stock rose about 8% to $156.55, following a 2% close at $145.36 on Tuesday, while Seoul-listed shares climbed roughly 11%.
Revenue climbed to 104.6 trillion won, up 328% year over year, beating analyst estimates of about 99 trillion won. Operating margin reached a record 80%, driven by tight supply and surging memory prices. The profit figure translates to about $62.8 billion, according to Reuters.
The company expects memory chip shortages to persist through 2030. SK Hynix supplies high-bandwidth memory to Nvidia, and analysts said the jump came mostly from price hikes in conventional DRAM and NAND, with HBM prices also climbing. Macquarie Research estimates memory now accounts for roughly one-third of AI data center costs and expects HBM prices to more than double in 2027.
SK Hynix also announced an additional investor return program for 2026 worth 100 trillion won, about $75 billion. The company dropped a possible U.S. listing of its Solidigm unit after investor opposition and regulatory scrutiny, while Solidigm is reportedly in talks with the U.S. Commerce Department to invest $45 billion in a new chip plant on American soil.
MS Hwang, a director at Counterpoint Research, said quarterly earnings have not peaked and could keep rising through at least 2027.
