- Reports revenues of 52.5763 trillion won, operating profit of 37.6103 trillion won, net profit of 40.3459 trillion won
- Record-high quarterly performance driven by increased sales of high value-added products from strong AI demand
- By launching advanced products, the company will try to address growing market demand in the looming agentic AI era
- Company to secure both stable supply and robust financial conditions through investment aligned with demand
SEOUL, South Korea, April 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — SK hynix Inc. (or “the company”, www.skhynix.com) announced today that it has recorded 52.5763 trillion won in revenues, 37.6103 trillion won in operating profit (with an operating margin of 72%), and 40.3459 trillion won in net profit (with a net margin of 77%) in the first quarter.
Revenue surpassed 50 trillion won for the first time on a quarterly basis, while operating profit and operating margin reached record highs at 37.6 trillion won and 72%, respectively[1]. Operating profit has nearly doubled compared to the previous quarter, clearly demonstrating an improving profitability.
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[1] 4Q2025 Revenue: 32.8267 trillion won / 4Q2025 Operating Profit: 19.1696 trillion won |
SK hynix noted that despite the fact that first quarter is typically a seasonal downturn, strong demand persisted due to expanded investments in AI infrastructure. The company sustained its upward performance trend by increasing sales of high-value-added products, including HBM, high-capacity server DRAM modules, and eSSDs.
Building on this strong performance, the company’s cash and cash equivalents at the end of the first quarter increased by 19.4 trillion won from the previous quarter, reaching 54.3 trillion won. Meanwhile, interest bearing debt stood at 19.3 trillion won down 2.9 trillion won from the previous quarter, enabling the company to reach a net cash position of 35 trillion won.
The company analyzed that as AI evolves from large model training to the stage of agentic AI, which repeatedly performs real-time inference across various service environments, the foundation for memory demand is expanding across both DRAM and NAND flash.
SK hynix also predicted that the spread of memory efficiency technologies will enhance the economic viability of AI services, leading to an expansion of the overall service scale and further drive memory demand. Based on this, the company forecasted that favorable pricing conditions will continue for both DRAM and NAND flash.
To meet this demand, the company, plans to continue rolling out new products across both DRAM and NAND flash to address the diversifying memory demand.
Regarding HBM, the company will further strengthen its capabilities, encompassing performance, yield, quality, and supply stability. In DRAM, the company will fully ramp up the shipment of LPDDR6, which applied 1cnm process, or the sixth-generation of the 10-nanometer technology, for the world’s first time, and the 192GB SOCAMM2, which is based on the same process and began mass production this month.
For NAND flash, the company will flexibly address AI demand with CTF[2] based 321-layer QLC[3] cSSD ‘PQC21’, and eSSD lineup of high-performance TLC and high-capacity QLC. Especially, by leveraging synergies with Solidigm, which holds strengths in high-capacity QLC eSSDs, the company plans to strengthen its competitiveness in the AI data center and AI PC storage markets.
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[2] Charge Trap Flash (CTF): Unlike floating gate, which stores electric charges in conductors, CTF stores electric charges in insulators, which eliminates interference between cells, improving read and write performance while reducing cell area per unit compared to floating gate technology. |
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[3] Quad-level cell (QLC): NAND flash is categorized as single-level cell (SLC), multi-level cell (MLC), triple-level cell (TLC), QLC, and penta-level cell (PLC) depending on how many data bits can be stored in one cell. As the amount of information storage increases, more data can be stored in the same volume. |
Meanwhile, SK hynix emphasized that within the environment where customer demand exceeds supply capacity, securing stable supply capability to meet the structural demand growth of the AI era has emerged as a key competitive advantage.
Accordingly, the company explained that this year’s investment scale will increase significantly compared to the previous year, focusing on the ramp-up of M15X, infrastructure preparation on the Yongin cluster, and securing key equipment such as EUV.
The company highlighted that it will secure both stable supply and robust financial conditions through investment aligned with demand and will strategically expand production bases to proactively respond to long-term demand growth.
- 1Q26 Financial Results (K-IFRS)
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*Unit: Billion KRW |
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1Q26 |
QoQ |
YoY |
|||
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4Q25 |
Change |
1Q25 |
Change |
||
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Revenues |
52,576.3 |
32,826.7 |
60 % |
17,639.1 |
198 % |
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Operating Profit |
37,610.3 |
19,169.6 |
96 % |
7,440.5 |
405 % |
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Operating Margin |
72 % |
58 % |
14%P |
42 % |
30%P |
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Net Income |
40,345.9 |
15,246.0 |
165 % |
8,108.2 |
398 % |
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※ Financial information of the earnings is based on K-IFRS |
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※ Please note that the financial results discussed herein are preliminary and speak only as of April 23, 2026. Readers should not assume that this information remains operative at a later time. |
Disclaimer
This material has been prepared by the Company for informational purposes only, and the information contained herein has not undergone any separate, independent verification process. No representations or warranties are made regarding the fairness, accuracy, or completeness of the information contained in this material, and such information should not be relied upon. Neither the Company nor its employees bear any civil, criminal, or administrative liability for any damages arising from this material or from its use.
Review of the FY2026 Q1 financial results has not been finalized. Figures in this earnings release are subject to changes during the independent auditing process.
All financial information contained in this document is based on consolidated K-IFRS.
This material contains forward-looking statements which can be subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially.
This material does not constitute a solicitation for the acquisition or purchase of securities, and no part of this material should serve as the basis for any contract, agreement, or investment decision, nor should it be relied upon in connection therewith.
About SK hynix Inc.
SK hynix Inc., headquartered in Korea, is the world’s top tier semiconductor supplier offering Dynamic Random Access Memory chips (“DRAM”) and flash memory chips (“NAND flash”) for a wide range of distinguished customers globally. The Company’s shares are traded on the Korea Exchange, and the Global Depository shares are listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. Further information about SK hynix is available at www.skhynix.com, news.skhynix.com.
