SK Hynix profit increases 632% on AI memory sales

SK Hynix, a South Korean maker of memory chips, gave its results for July to September on Wednesday. Revenue was 104.62 trillion won ($78.86 billion). The forecast of analysts was 98.34 trillion won. Operating profit was 83.33 trillion won, 632.1% more than one year before. The company supplies high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, a fast type of AI memory, to Nvidia.

How it works

HBM chips send data quickly to AI processors. Each new AI data center uses these chips.

The numbers

• Revenue is 327.9% more than one year before.
• Revenue is 31.9% more than the previous quarter.
• Operating profit is 37.6% more than the previous quarter.

What is not known

The company gave no forecast for the next quarter. In August 2026, it gave a share buyback of 40 trillion won. Last week, its US subsidiary Solidigm stopped its work on IPO plans. The cause given is market volatility and share price trends.

Insight: SK Hynix keeps its cash for shareholders and Solidigm

In August 2026, SK Hynix had a target to give more than 50% of free cash flow to shareholders. Last week, it stopped the Solidigm IPO plans. This looks like a company that uses cash from AI memory, not external funds, for its units. Look at the quantity and the time of the Solidigm investment. For buyers of memory, a maker with deep cash is a strong supplier.