SK Hynix posts record first-quarter profit, in line with estimates as memory prices climb

South Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix posted yet another quarter of record profit and revenue on Thursday, as prices for its products continue to surge amid strong AI demand. While its earnings were broadly in line with estimates, revenue missed forecasts.

Here are SK Hynix's first-quarter results versus LSEG smart estimates, which are weighted toward forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate:

• Revenue: 52.58 trillion won ($35.55 billion) vs. 53.55 trillion won
• Operating profit: 37.61 trillion won vs. 37.92 trillion won

Revenue in the March quarter nearly tripled from the same period last year, surpassing 50 trillion won for the first time.

Operating profit grew by a factor of five year-over-year and nearly doubled from the previous quarter, while operating margin also reached an all-time high of 72%.

SK Hynix makes memory chips used to store data, which are found in everything from servers to smartphones and laptops.

The company has benefited from a boom in artificial intelligence demand as the world's leading supplier of high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, used in AI datacenters. 

"SK Hynix noted that despite the fact that first quarter is typically a seasonal downturn, strong demand persisted due to expanded investments in AI infrastructure," the company said in its earnings release. 

HBM falls into the broader category of dynamic random access memory, or DRAM — a type of semiconductor memory used to store data and program code that can be found in PCs, workstations and servers.

SK Hynix has gained an edge over rivals like Micron and Samsung in the DRAM market, thanks to its early lead in HBM and its role as a key supplier to the world's leading AI processor maker Nvidia. However, competitors have been working to close the gap.

Samsung Electronics said in February that it had started shipping its most advanced HBM4 chips to unnamed customers, after SK Hynix began delivering its HBM4 samples in March 2025.

HBM4 is the sixth generation of HBM technology and the most advanced version to date. It is expected to be the main AI memory chip used in Nvidia's next-generation Vera Rubin architecture, designed for powerful AI workloads in data centers. 

However, Samsung reclaimed the top spot in DRAM revenue in the last three months of the year, according to data from Counterpoint Research. Meanwhile, SK Hynix continued to dominate in HBM with a 57% market share.

Counterpoint added that the DRAM market has recorded 30% quarter-over-quarter growth for two consecutive quarters due to rising memory prices.

Rising memory prices have resulted from surging demand for HBM, which has occupied manufacturers' capacity, triggering a broader memory shortage in recent quarters.

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won reportedly stated in March 2026 that the global chip wafer shortage is likely to persist until 2030, as demand for HBM continues to outpace supply and strain manufacturing capacity.

He added that building additional wafer supply could take at least four to five years, with a projected shortfall exceeding 20%.

MS Hwang, a research analyst at Counterpoint Research, told CNBC that first-quarter results from memory companies "show strong profitability and reveal that a lot more memory is needed for AI inference than expected, with companies rushing to secure supply."

Even if the upward trend in memory prices slows in the second half of the year, SK Hynix's profits could continue to rise throughout this year, he added.

However, the company could face some headwinds if the conflict in the Middle East extends beyond the second quarter and becomes prolonged, further disrupting the supply of essential materials for semiconductor manufacturing such as helium. 

Such a scenario could have a critical impact on the entire AI supply chain, Hwang said, although it is not expected to become a long-term issue.