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SK Hynix's Second-Quarter Profit Soars 13-Fold as Revenue Jumps 257% on AI Memory Boom

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SK Hynix's Second-Quarter Profit Soars 13-Fold as Revenue Jumps 257% on AI Memory Boom

SK Hynix (KRX:000660) reported a 1,241% year-over-year jump in attributable net profit for the second quarter, which it attributed to strong demand for high-value memory products amid strong AI demand.

Attributable net profit surged 13-fold to 93.82 trillion won from 6.997 trillion won a year earlier, according to a Korea bourse filing early Wednesday.

Net profit margin during the first half reached 118%.

The South Korean memory chipmaker posted a 257% year-over-year jump in revenue to 79.3 trillion won from 22.2 trillion won, marking an all-time quarterly high for the company and pushing cumulative first-half revenue above 100 trillion won for the first time in its history, according to a press release.

Cumulative revenue totaled 131.9 trillion won in the first half, up 231% from 39.9 trillion won a year prior.

"Driven by sustained demand growth from expanding AI infrastructure investments, high-performance products for AI servers led price increases, enabling the company to surpass its previous record set in the prior quarter," SK hynix said.

The company expects the momentum in memory demand to persist as major tech companies ramp up their AI infrastructure spending, raising demand for its products.

SK hynix supplies advanced memory chips to major global tech companies including Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple and Amazon Web Services, among others.

The company said it began mass shipments of its new HBM4 product in the second quarter and will ramp up production in the second half of the year.

SK Hynix added that it has finalized long-term agreements with around 10 customers, including key strategic partners, and is continuing further talks with major industry clients.

In recent days, the company struck major investment deals to support the AI boom, including a memorandum of understanding with Nvidia last week to co-develop next-generation AI memory.

The long-term partnership, amounting to $500 billion, was announced during South Korean President Lee Jae Myung's visit to San Francisco.

Also last week, the company disclosed plans to build P&T7, its next-generation advanced packaging and testing facility, in South Korea's Cheongju, with a total investment of 7.09 trillion won.

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