SK Hynix2quarterly operating profit, lower than the consensus by8% reason

SK Hynix's2quarterly results are expected to fall short of securities firms' estimates. If the confirmed figures announced at the end of this month disappoint, short-term stock price fluctuations are inevitable. The key point is the production timing of HBM.4

Cha Min-sook, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities, estimated on7date13that SK Hynix's2quarterly operating profit would be60trillion4,000won. This figure is nearly65% lower than the average forecast collected by securities firms (consensus) of3,000trillion8won.

Compared to the same period last year, sales increased by264%, and operating profit surged by556%. The results themselves were outstanding, but they fell short of market expectations.

The reason lies in the business structure. SK Hynix has a higher proportion of high-bandwidth memory (HBM, ultra-fast memory used in AI semiconductors) sales compared to its competitors. When general memory prices rise, competitors with a lower HBM ratio benefit more from the price increase.

2The average selling price of DRAM in the quarter is estimated to have increased by about 30% compared to the same period last year, while NAND flash is estimated to have risen by about 50%. Nonetheless, due to the high proportion of HBM, the impact of the rise in general memory prices on profits has been limited.

However, cards remain for the second half of the year. Analyst Chae expects that full-scale mass production of the next-generation product HBM3 will begin in the quarter. If HBM4 is mass-produced as planned, the HBM-focused product mix may again work to the company's advantage. ]},4es-ES":{"G":["La razón radica en la estructura empresarial. SK Hynix tiene una mayor proporción de ventas de memoria de ancho de banda alto (HBM, memoria ultra rápida utilizada en semiconductores de IA) en comparación con sus competidores. Cuando los precios de la memoria general aumentan, los competidores con una menor proporción de HBM se benefician más del aumento de precios.","H":[""] ," La estimación de la venta promedio de DRAM en el trimestre ha aumentado alrededor del ","% en comparación con el mismo período del año pasado, mientras que se estima que el flash NAND ha aumentado aproximadamente un ","%. Sin embargo, debido a la alta proporción de HBM, el impacto del aumento en los precios de la memoria general en las ganancias ha sido limitado."],