SK Hynix said that operating profit hit Won37.6tn (€21.7bn) in the first three months of this year, smashing forecasts of Won35.7tn (€20.6bn).
Revenue nearly tripled year on year to Won52.6tn (€30.3bn), powered by tight supply and AI buyers hoarding parts like it is the last shipment before a storm.
SK Hynix thinks the upswing will last longer than usual because customers are prioritising securing chips, not haggling over price. Capacity limits are keeping supply growth on a short leash.
SK Hynix head of DRAM marketing Joon Deok Park said, “The current cycle seems different from the past as memory price upswings are driven by structural changes rather than temporary demand and supply.”
The company plans to ramp up capital spending this year as Big Tech throws hundreds of billions of dollars at AI hardware. SK Hynix is leaning into the idea that demand is not a fad that clears after a couple of quarters.
Last month, SK Hynix said it would spend about $8bn on extreme ultraviolet lithography machines from ASML. Samsung is set to spend a record Won110tn (€63.4bn) on chip capacity expansion and research this year as it scrambles for AI credibility.
SK Hynix said demand for high-bandwidth memory used in AI processors in the next three years is far beyond what it can currently make.
The global data centre build-out for AI models has lifted prices for high-bandwidth and conventional memory, with fabs chasing the fattest margins first.
Counterpoint Research puts SK Hynix at the top of the high-bandwidth memory market with a 57 per cent share at the end of last year, ahead of Samsung and Micron Technology. The real brag is that it has become a key supplier to Nvidia without tripping over its own success.
SK Hynix swatted away worries that memory-efficiency tricks like Google’s TurboQuant will dent demand. It claims the opposite, that better efficiency makes AI services cheaper to run and widens adoption.
“The advancement of the memory optimisation technology will actually serve as a catalyst for driving memory demand further by expanding the AI ecosystem,” Park said.
That line has soothed investors who remember how quickly memory makers can go from hero to horror show. The hope is that long-term contracts will keep the party going.
Citi analysts reckon AI inference will support memory pricing this year, particularly for server DRAM, but they flagged a risk if the Iran conflict keeps grinding away. The chips may keep flowing, but the energy bill for data centres is not getting any kinder.
SK Hynix said the short- to long-term impact of geopolitical risks on materials supply should be limited, citing decent inventories and diversified sourcing. That is the sort of reassurance you give when everyone is watching ships and pipelines.
SK Hynix shares are up about 90 per cent this year and have climbed close to 600 per cent in the past 12 months. Samsung shares have gained more than 80 per cent this year, with its 2026 earnings forecast tipped to jump four to fivefold.
