Nvidia supplier SK Hynix posts record profit, outshining Samsung in AI chip sales

The world’s second-biggest memory chip maker beat forecasts in its third-quarter earnings

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Nvidia supplier SK Hynix posted record third-quarter profit, beating forecasts. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:45am, 24 Oct 2024Updated: 5:18pm, 24 Oct 2024

South Korea’s SK Hynix on Thursday posted a record quarterly profit as the Nvidia supplier saw strong sales of its advanced chips such as high bandwidth memory (HBM) ones used in generative artificial intelligence (AI) chipsets.

The world’s second-biggest memory chip maker reported a 7 trillion won (US$5.07 billion) operating profit for the July-September quarter versus a 1.8 trillion won loss a year earlier.

That compared with a 6.8 trillion won average forecast by LSEG SmartEstimate, which is weighted toward analysts who are more consistently accurate.

SK Hynix has outperformed rivals Samsung Electronics and Micron Technology in recent quarters, as it has benefited the most from AI-driven appetite for high-end memory chips following its early entry and large investments in HBM chip development.

“HBM sales showed excellent growth, up more than 70 per cent from the previous quarter and more than 330 per cent from the same period last year,” SK Hynix said in a statement.

SK Hynix sees HBM sales making up 40 per cent of its total DRAM revenue in the fourth quarter, up from 30 per cent in the third quarter, and added it expects memory chip demand for AI servers to grow further next year as global tech companies continue developing generative AI.