SK hynix recorded a profit last quarter for the first time since the third quarter of 2022. This is due to a large increase in demand for memory chips for AI applications.
The expectation from analysts was: according to Bloomberg that a loss of around 116 million euros would be recorded, but SK hynix reports now an operating profit of 346 billion
South Korean won, or about 237 million euros. Sales of 11.3 trillion won, 7.7 billion euros, were achieved in the last quarter of 2023, exceeding even the highest forecast, the news agency said.
SK hynix HBM3e
The memory maker itself also speaks of a ‘remarkable turnaround’, which it attributes to the growing demand for high-end memory chips that are used for various AI applications, both for servers and mobile use. For example, the DDR5 and HBM3 memory modules were sold four and five times more, respectively, than a year earlier. SK hynix expects that demand for dram will continue to recover in 2024, but that demand for nand memory will grow less quickly. Furthermore, the company says that it is in the process of mass production of its next generation AI memory chips, the HBM3e modules, and that the development of the successor, HBM4, is progressing smoothly.
A total turnover of 32.8 trillion won, or 22.5 billion euros, was recorded in 2023, which is a decrease of 27 percent compared to the previous year. Analyst agency Gartner wrote earlier this month that it expected SK hynix’s total turnover in 2023 to be 32 percent less than in 2022, but due to the unexpected profit in the last quarter, this turned out to be slightly higher. However, a net loss of 6.3 billion euros was recorded for the entire year, while in 2022 there was a net profit of 1.5 billion euros.