SK Hynix's 2026 Q2 profit far exceeded its 2025 full-year profit
2026-07-29
The report shows that SK Hynix achieved a revenue of 793.2 trillion won this quarter, a 257% increase year-on-year and a 51% increase month-on-month. The operating profit margin remained at an extremely high level of around 76%. Despite the unprecedentedly outstanding performance, it was still slightly lower than the market expectation of 64 trillion won.
Price surge and imbalance in supply and demand
This quarter, the spot prices of global storage chips continued their strong upward trend. The average price of DRAM chips rose by approximately 30% compared to the previous period, and the price of NAND flash memory increased by 50% to 55% compared to the previous period. According to TrendForce statistics, the cumulative increase in traditional DRAM contract prices in the first half of the year has exceeded 340%. To prioritize the supply for high-performance computing fields, the three major original manufacturers, Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron, have shifted more than 70% of their advanced wafer production capacity to produce HBM and server DDR5, actively reducing the supply of general consumer-grade chips, further exacerbating the tight market supply situation.
Leading HBM4 production process
Technology and production capacity layout are the core supports for SK Hynix to maintain its leading position. SK Hynix's HBM4 products have achieved mass production in the second quarter of 2026, and the production capacity will be further expanded in the second half of the year. The sample of the next-generation enhanced product HBM4E has been delivered to customers, and it is planned to be mass-produced in 2027. SK Hynix has formed a deep collaborative partnership alliance with NVIDIA and TSMC. NVIDIA has allocated approximately 70% of its HBM4 demand to SK Hynix. According to Counterpoint data, SK Hynix occupied approximately 58% of the global HBM market share in the first quarter of 2026, firmly maintaining its position at the top.
Capacity expansion speed
To cope with the continuously surging demand for orders, SK Hynix is fully advancing the mass production process of the M15X wafer factory in Cheongju, South Korea. The total investment for this production line amounts to 2 trillion won. The initial monthly production capacity is approximately 10,000 wafers, and the goal is to increase it to 55,000 - 60,000 wafers per month by the end of 2026, while simultaneously mass-producing HBM3E and HBM4 products. At the same time, the company has initiated the expansion preparation work for the first wafer factory in the Longren cluster， planning to start production in early 2027 and striving to double the total memory wafer production capacity within the next five years. SK Group Chairman Choi Tae-yoon predicts that the shortage of storage chips may persist beyond 2030.
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