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By Kang Yoon-seung
SEOUL, Jan. 28 (Yonhap) — SK hynix Inc. said Wednesday it has posted an annual record operating profit of 47.2 trillion won (US$33.1 billion) in 2025 amid the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, beating its rival Samsung Electronics Co. for the first time.
The operating profit represents over a twofold jump from 2024, according to a regulatory filing from the South Korean chip giant, attributing the robust performance to the strong demand for high bandwidth memory (HBM) products in the AI industry.
Net profit for 2025 came to 42.9 trillion won, up 116.9 percent from a year earlier. Sales came to 97.1 trillion won, up 46.8 percent from the previous year, it added.
It marked a fresh high for both in terms of operating profit and sales.
SK hynix has outperformed Samsung Electronics in profits not only in the top conglomerate’s chip business, but across the entire portfolio.
In an earnings guidance report released earlier this month, Samsung Electronics said its total annual operating profit for last year was estimated at 43.5 trillion won.
SK hynix surpassed Samsung Electronics in operating profit on a quarterly basis in the fourth quarter of 2024.
This file photo taken July 24, 2025, shows the headquarters of SK hynix Inc. in Icheon, south of Seoul. (Yonhap)
The company’s operating profit margin came to 49 percent in 2025, just below the previous record of 52 percent posted in 2018.
Analysts believe SK hynix is set to post annual operating profit of 100 trillion won or more this year, along with an operating margin of around 60 percent.
“In the manufacturing sector, a margin above 30 percent is considered high, and figures above 50 percent indicate SK hynix has an advantage in price negotiations based on its overwhelming technology and products,” an industry official said.
For the fourth quarter, the company said it reported a net income of 15.24 trillion won, up 90.4 percent from a year earlier.
SK hynix said its operating profit for the October-December period jumped 137.2 percent on-year to 19.16 trillion won, while sales climbed 66.1 percent to 32.82 trillion won.
The fourth-quarter earnings exceeded market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 13.49 trillion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.
This file photo taken Jan. 9, 2026, shows SK hynix Inc.’s exhibition at the CES technology show in Las Vegas. (Yonhap)
“Growth momentum accelerated further in the fourth quarter. In addition to HBM, demand on conventional memory solutions for servers increased sharply, to which SK hynix responded proactively,” the company said.
SK hynix said it has secured both growth and profitability by enhancing technological competitiveness and expanding its portfolio of high value-added products.
“In the DRAM segment, HBM revenue more than doubled year-on-year, making a significant contribution to the company’s record performance,” the company said.
Looking ahead, SK hynix said it plans to continue building its production capacity, noting it is the industry’s only player that can stably supply both HBM3E and HBM4.
“Having successfully completed the preparation stages to mass produce HBM4 for the first time in the industry, in September last year, the large-scale production of the next-generation HBM has been underway to meet customer requests,” it added.
SK hynix added it plans to cancel treasury shares worth 12.2 trillion won.
The company will offer dividends of 1,500 won per share, totaling 1 trillion won, it added. The combined dividends paid to investors for fiscal 2025 will reach 3,000 won per share, or 2.1 trillion won.
The combined market capitalization of SK hynix reached 612 trillion won on Wednesday, setting a new record. Its shares closed at 841,000 won, up 5.12 percent from the previous session. The milestone came months after the shares hit 420,000 won in October.
“We will strengthen our role not merely as a product supplier, but as a core infrastructure partner in the AI era, enabling customers to meet their AI performance requirements,” SK hynix President Song Hyun-jong said in a release.
This file photo taken Oct. 29, 2025, shows the headquarters of SK hynix Inc. in Icheon, south of Seoul. (Yonhap)
colin@yna.co.kr
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