SK hynix posts record profits on surging AI demand
The world's second-largest memory chip maker dominates the market for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) semiconductors and is a key supplier for US titan Nvidia.
The firm said operating profit climbed almost 70 percent to 9.21 trillion won ($6.72 billion) in the second quarter, with revenues coming in at 22.23 trillion won -- both all-time peaks.
The news comes after Taiwan chip giant TSMC last week announced a surge in net profit for the second quarter, topping forecasts, thanks to robust demand for AI technology, despite the threat of US tariffs on the critical sector.
HK hynix also said net profit was up close to 70 percent on-year, at 6.99 trillion won.
"An aggressive investment by global big tech companies into AI led to a steady increase in demand for AI memory," it said in a statement.
Shipments of DRAM and NAND flash topped forecasts, boosting the bottom line.
"SK hynix foresees that increasing competition among big tech companies to enhance inference of AI models would lead to higher demand for high-performance and high-capacity memory products," the company added.
Shares in the firm rose more than three percent in Seoul.
South Korea is a major exporter to the United States and its powerhouse semiconductor and auto industries would suffer greatly under President Donald Trump's threatened 25 percent tariffs.
Experts attribute SK hynix's resilience to its growth in the DRAM market.
The firm took the lead in DRAM revenues in April, with a 36 percent market share, according to specialist research firm Counterpoint. That surpassed South Korean rival Samsung for the first time and marked the first change in the top spot in more than four decades.
The company also recorded a combined $15.5 billion in sales of DRAM and NAND in the second quarter, matching Samsung to jointly lead the global memory market, according to a Counterpoint report.
SK hynix said in a conference call that "the previous quarter began amid concerns over slowing demand due to trade tensions and broader economic uncertainty".
But "strong AI-related investment by major tech firms continued to drive growth in demand for AI-oriented memory products".
As the United States has been threatening certain restrictions on semiconductor sales to China, customers' preemptive purchases "to hedge against external risks", actually created a "more favourable environment than initially expected", an SK hynix official said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
17 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Donald Trump pulls the trigger, doubles India levy to 50%
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday imposing an additional 25% tariff on all Indian goods entering the US, carrying out his threat made a day ago to penalise New Delhi's continued purchases of Russian oil. Trump's additional 25% tariff followed after over a week of criticism focused on New Delhi's continued purchases of Russian energy. (REUTERS) The additional 25%, due to take effect on August 27, puts India at par with Brazil as the two countries whose exports will face the highest levy of 50% on their goods. The duties would put Indian exporters at a significant disadvantage compared to their rivals in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam – which face tariffs of between 19% and 20% tariffs. 'I have received additional information from various senior officials on the actions of the government of the Russian Federation with respect to the situation in Ukraine,' Trump wrote in the executive order. 'I determine that it is necessary and appropriate to impose an additional ad valorem duty on imports of articles of India, which is directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil.' India hit back, reiterating that the American actions are 'unfair, unjustified and unreasonable'. 'India will take all actions necessary to protect its national interests,' ministry of external affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement, adding that it was 'extremely unfortunate' that the US had chosen to act against India 'for actions that several other countries are also taking in their own national interest'. He was alluding to continuing imports of Russian energy, especially LNG, by European Union (EU) member states that have paid Russia $105.6 billion for gas imports since the start of the invasion of Ukraine. Almost 87% of all EU imports of Russian LNG went to Spain, France or Belgium, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named. To be sure, the executive order continues exemptions provided earlier for sectors like pharmaceuticals and smartphones — though how long these exemptions remain is unclear. The order also exempts goods that are already in transit to America and which will clear US customs before September 17. 'The move places India among the most heavily taxed US trading partners, far above rivals such as China, Vietnam, and Bangladesh, and threatens most of India's $86.5 billion in annual exports to the US, from textiles to machinery,' according to analysis by the Global Trade Research Institute. 'The tariffs are expected to make Indian goods far costlier in the US, with potential to cut US-bound exports by 40–50%,' the GTRI analysis added. The executive order issued on Wednesday specifies that certain exemptions will continue. Among these are Section 232 national security exemptions that protect Indian pharmaceuticals — which account for about 40% of America's generic medicines — along with electronics, semiconductors and technology products that form the backbone of bilateral trade. Additional exemptions under Executive Order 14257's Annex II cover raw materials, certain metals and chemical formulations. Select product categories like apparels, vehicles and parts, furniture, organic chemicals and some food products like shrimp – which account for billions of dollars of exports -- will now face high tariffs entering the US market. Trump's additional 25% tariff followed after over a week of criticism focused on New Delhi's continued purchases of Russian energy. Washington has sought to increase economic pressure on Russia to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war by restricting Moscow's oil export revenues. India is Russia's second largest market for oil exports after China. In 2024, China purchased Russian oil worth $62.6 billion, followed by India's purchases to the tune of $52.7 billion. In the order, the US president also specified that he may – in the 21 days before the order takes effect – change the levy if 'if another country retaliates against the United States in response to this action, or if the government of the Russian Federation or a foreign country impacted by this order takes significant steps to address the national emergency and align sufficiently with the United States on national security, foreign policy, and economic matters.' In other words, Trump held out both a threat that he could ratchet up the levy or pare it back, depending on any retaliation or changes to Russia's stance in the war against Ukraine. Trump has set an August 8 deadline for Russia to agree to a Ukraine truce deal. 'There's a higher chance that India will find loopholes to concede the agri/soybean access the US has been asking for, than there is for India to halt oil purchases from Russia due to external pressure. Either way, it is unlikely that a decision will be taken on either front as long as Parliament is in session. Momentum on real solutions shouldn't be expected before August 20,' says Prerna Bountra, Deputy Director at the Ananta Aspen Centre, a New Delhi-based think tank. The rising tensions between India and the United States have also spiralled into a political controversy, with Opposition parties objecting to the government's handling of ties with America. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called the move 'economic blackmail' by the US to bully India into an unfair trade deal, adding Prime Minister Narendra Modi should not let Indian interests be overridden. (With inputs from Rezaul H Laskar in New Delhi)
India Today
17 minutes ago
- India Today
US slaps 50% tariff on Indian goods; textiles, shrimp, gems most hit
Domestic export sectors such as leather, chemicals, footwear, gems and jewellery, textiles and shrimp will be severely impacted by the imposition of the 50 per cent tariff by the US, say industry President Donald Trump on Wednesday slapped an additional 25 per cent tariff, raising the total duties to 50 per cent on goods coming from India, as a penalty for New Delhi's continued purchase of Russian United States has imposed additional tariffs or penalties for Russian imports only on India, while other buyers such as China and Turkey, have so far escaped such measures. "The tariffs are expected to make Indian goods far costlier in the US, with potential to cut US-bound exports by 40–50 per cent," think tank GTRI the new tariff, it said, organic chemicals' exports to the US will attract an additional 54 per cent duty. The other sectors which will attract high duties include carpets (52.9 per cent), apparel - knitted (63.9 per cent), apparel - woven (60.3 per cent), textiles, made-ups (59 per cent), diamonds, gold and products (52.1 per cent), machinery and mechanical appliances (51.3 per cent), furniture, bedding, mattresses (52.3 per cent).The 25 per cent duty, announced on July 31, will come into force from August 7 (9.30 am IST).The additional 25 per cent will be implemented by the US from August 27. These will be over and above the existing standard import duty in the 2024-25, the bilateral trade between India and the US stood at USD 131.8 billion (USD 86.5 billion exports and USD 45.3 billion imports).The sectors, which would bear the brunt of 50 per cent duty include textiles/ clothing (10.3 billion), gems and jewellery (12 billion), shrimp (USD 2.24 billion), leather and footwear (USD 1.18 billion), chemicals (2.34 billion), and electrical and mechanical machinery (about USD 9 billion).Kolkata-based seafood exporter and MD of Megaa Moda, Yogesh Gupta said that now India's shrimp will become expensive in the US market."We are already facing huge competition from Ecuador as it has only 15 per cent tariff. Indian shrimp already attracts a 2.49 per cent anti-dumping duty and a 5.77 per cent countervailing duty. After this 25 per cent, the duty will be 33.26 per cent from August 7," Gupta Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) said that it is "deeply concerned" about the potential adverse impact of the effective 50 per cent US tariff rate for US is India's largest market for textile and apparel US tariff announcement of August 6 is a huge setback for India's textile and apparel exporters as it has further complicated the challenging situation we were already grappling with and will significantly weaken our ability to compete effectively vis--vis many other countries for a larger share of the US market," it urged the government to urgently take steps to help the sector during these hugely testing Shah, MD, Kama Jewelry, said this move is a severe setback for Indian exports, with nearly 55 per cent of India's shipments to the US market directly 50 per cent reciprocal tariff effectively imposes a cost burden, placing our exporters at a 30–35 per cent competitive disadvantage compared to peers from countries with lesser reciprocal tariff, he said."Many export orders have already been put on hold as buyers reassess sourcing decisions in light of higher landed costs. For a large number of MSME-led sectors, absorbing this sudden cost escalation is simply not viable. Margins are already thin, and this additional blow could force exporters to lose long-standing clients," Shah Growmore International Ltd MD Yadvendra Singh Sachan said the exporters should look for new markets to maintain export are hoping that early finalisation of the India-US bilateral trade agreement will help in dealing with the tariff negotiations between India and the US are still going on for an interim trade deal, though there will be no compromise on the red lines with regard to duty concessions on agriculture items, dairy, and genetically modified (GM) products, sources two countries are negotiating a bilateral trade agreement (BTA). They are aiming to conclude the first phase of the pact by fall (October-November) this year.- EndsTune InMust Watch
News18
42 minutes ago
- News18
Trump Doubles Tariffs On India To 50% Over Russian Oil Purchase, But Is Trade War Over?
President Donald Trump has doubled tariffs on Indian imports to 50%, citing New Delhi's continued purchase of Russian oil. As tensions escalate, how will India respond? Can New Delhi afford to retaliate? What could this mean for the global economy, energy markets, and trade relations? News18 Mobile App -
