South Korea’s SK Hynix Inc., the world’s second-largest reminiscence chipmaker, introduced a return to profitability within the fourth quarter of 2023. The corporate recorded an working revenue of 346 billion gained ($259.8 million), considerably outperforming market expectations of a 192 billion gained working loss. This marks a stark distinction to the 1.9 trillion gained loss reported in the identical quarter a 12 months earlier. The revenue is attributed to a surge in income by 47%, pushed by sturdy demand for AI-focused reminiscence chips.
The corporate’s focus has shifted in the direction of high-end reminiscence semiconductors, significantly these utilized in AI chipsets. SK Hynix’s superior DRAM chips, corresponding to Excessive Bandwidth Reminiscence (HBM) chips, have seen growing demand, particularly in graphic processing models (GPUs) used for processing massive quantities of knowledge in generative AI. A big achievement for SK Hynix in 2023 was the event of HBM3 chips, which it did forward of its opponents. The gross sales of those chips elevated greater than fivefold from the earlier 12 months.
Trying ahead, SK Hynix goals to begin mass manufacturing of its subsequent HBM model, HBM3E, within the first half of 2024, whereas additionally engaged on the event of the next-generation chip, HBM4. The corporate’s technological management within the AI reminiscence area has been a vital think about its turnaround. Analysts predict that HBM chips will account for 15% of industry-wide DRAM gross sales in 2024, up from 8% in 2023.
Regardless of the optimistic earnings report, SK Hynix’s shares skilled a 2.6% decline in afternoon commerce, attributed to profit-taking by traders. The corporate’s shares had surged 18% since its final quarterly earnings launch, pushed by the upbeat outlook for AI reminiscence chips. Nonetheless, the broader market is anticipated to see enchancment in chip costs as shoppers restock and producers proceed to chop legacy chip manufacturing.
Picture supply: Shutterstock
