SK Hynix Posts Record Profit but Shares Slide as Results Miss Lofty Hopes

South Korean memory chipmaker SK Hynix reported record quarterly results, with operating profit surging about 557% year-on-year to 60.54 trillion won in the second quarter and revenue rising 257% to 79.32 trillion won, lifting its operating margin to roughly 76%. Net profit reached 93.92 trillion won, boosted by large investment gains, and the company said its cumulative first-half revenue crossed 100 trillion won for the first time in its history, propelled by booming demand for high-bandwidth memory and enterprise storage used in artificial intelligence data centres. Despite the records, the stock fell around 9%, as the results came in below the loftiest analyst expectations; some HBM4 shipments landed later than anticipated, pushing revenue recognition into later periods. The company said it began mass shipments of its next-generation HBM4 memory during the quarter and plans to ramp up production in the second half, while securing long-term contracts with about ten key customers to reduce exposure to price swings. The report came amid heightened volatility in Korean equities, with the benchmark index having tumbled sharply days earlier in an Asia-wide chip sell-off, and as Samsung Electronics prepared to release its own record results.