SK hynix has reported the strongest quarter in its history, with AI memory continuing to drive unprecedented growth across its business. The company posted revenue of 79.3 trillion won, operating profit of 60.5 trillion won, and net profit of 93.9 trillion won, all new company records. The latest results published by the company comfortably surpassed the previous quarter, with demand for high-value products such as HBM, AI server DRAM and enterprise SSDs continuing to outpace supply. Revenue for the first half of 2026 also crossed the 100 trillion won mark for the first time, highlighting just how quickly the AI boom is reshaping the memory industry.
Strong earnings have also strengthened the company’s balance sheet. Cash reserves climbed to 88 trillion won, while total debt fell to 18.6 trillion won, leaving SK hynix with a net cash position of almost 70 trillion won.
According to the company, demand is no longer being driven solely by AI accelerators. As generative AI evolves into agentic AI systems capable of handling increasingly complex tasks, memory requirements are expanding across both AI infrastructure and traditional computing platforms. SK hynix says major cloud providers continue to increase orders, prompting the company to secure long-term supply agreements with around ten strategic customers while negotiating additional multi-year contracts.
On the product side, HBM remains a key growth engine. SK hynix started mass production of HBM4 during the second quarter and plans to ramp output through the remainder of the year, while HBM4E has already been sampled to customers ahead of its commercial rollout. The company also continues migrating DRAM production to its sixth-generation 1c process and says 321-layer NAND has already become its primary production node.
To support future demand, SK hynix is accelerating investments in manufacturing capacity, including the upcoming M15X fab, its Yongin semiconductor campus, the recently announced P&T7 advanced packaging facility and the M17 NAND production line. The company says future investments will continue to be rolled out in phases while maintaining financial discipline.
LPDDR6 production expected later this year
Alongside its record financial results, SK hynix is also preparing another important milestone. According to reports from South Korea, the company is expected to begin mass production of LPDDR6 memory during the second half of 2026 after completing validation and trial production earlier this year.
The new memory generation is expected to deliver transfer speeds of up to 14.4Gbps, roughly 33 percent faster than LPDDR5X, while also improving power efficiency by more than 20 percent. LPDDR6 introduces a more flexible sub-channel architecture alongside Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling (DVFS), allowing memory channels to operate more efficiently by activating only the resources needed for a given workload. The combination of higher bandwidth and lower power consumption is expected to make LPDDR6 a key technology for future AI PCs, mobile devices and next-generation laptops.
