South Korea’s SK Hynix, the world’s second-largest memory chip manufacturer, announced a return to profit in the fourth quarter of 2023. The company recorded an operating profit of 346 billion won ($259.8 million), significantly exceeding market expectations of 192 billion won. We suffered an operating loss. This is in stark contrast to the deficit of 1.9 trillion won in the same quarter last year. The gain followed a 47% surge in sales driven by increased demand for AI-centric memory chips.
The company’s focus has shifted to advanced memory semiconductors, particularly those used in AI chipsets. SK Hynix’s advanced DRAM chips, such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, are in growing demand, especially in graphics processing units (GPUs) used to process large amounts of data in generative AI. An important achievement achieved by SK Hynix in 2023 was the development of the HBM3 chip ahead of its competitors. Sales of these chips increased more than five times compared to the previous year.
SK Hynix aims to mass produce HBM3E, the next HBM version, in the first half of 2024, and is also working on developing HBM4, the next-generation chip. The company’s technological leadership in AI memory was a critical factor in the turnaround. Analysts predict that HBM chips will account for 15% of industry-wide DRAM sales in 2024, up from 8% in 2023.
SK Hynix shares fell 2.6% in afternoon trading due to profit-taking by investors despite the positive earnings report. The company’s shares have surged 18% since reporting last quarter earnings, driven by a positive outlook for its AI memory chips. Nonetheless, chip prices are expected to improve in the broader market as customers restock and manufacturers continue to reduce legacy chip production.
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