SK Hynix (000660)

SK Hynix is a semiconductor manufacturing company under the SK Group in South Korea, primarily producing and selling memory semiconductors. The company's core products are DRAM and NAND Flash, and it is a global leader, especially in the High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) sector. As of 2025, approximately 80% of revenue is generated from DRAM, and about 20% from NAND Flash. HBM accounts for approximately 20% of DRAM shipments but is a high-profit product contributing more than half of DRAM operating income. Key customers include NVIDIA, which is the largest customer, accounting for approximately 70% of HBM volume. This also includes big tech companies such as Google, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft, as well as smartphone and computer manufacturers like Apple, Huawei, and Xiaomi. SK Hynix possesses unique competitiveness and strengths in HBM technology. The company is solidifying its technological leadership by being the first in the world to mass-produce HBM3E and by leading HBM4 development, based on superior technology and production capabilities compared to competitors. Furthermore, through long-term collaboration with key customers, including NVIDIA, the company has built a high level of customer understanding and trust, which has led to its dominant market share and position in the HBM market. Due to a challenging market environment in 2023, SK Hynix recorded a loss with revenue of KRW 32,765.7 billion, operating income of KRW -7,730.3 billion, and net income of KRW -9,137.5 billion. However, in 2024, the company successfully turned to profit with revenue of KRW 66,193.0 billion, a 101.99% growth year-over-year, and achieved operating income of KRW 23,467.3 billion. In 2025, revenue increased by 46.77% year-over-year to KRW 97,146.7 billion, marking an all-time high performance, and operating income surged by 101.16% year-over-year to KRW 47,206.3 billion. Notably, in Q4 2025, the company recorded revenue of KRW 72,697.7 billion and operating income of KRW 35,822.9 billion, achieving a high operating profit margin of 49.27%. SK Hynix's financial health has significantly improved after a temporary deterioration in 2023. The debt-to-equity ratio continuously decreased from 87.52% in 2023 to 62.15% in 2024 and 45.95% in 2025, strengthening financial stability. The current ratio steadily improved from 145.03% in 2023 to 169.35% in 2024 and 185.82% in 2025, indicating a sound short-term liquidity position. Return on Equity (ROE) sharply rose from -17.08% in 2023 to 26.78% in 2024 and 35.59% in 2025, demonstrating a significant recovery in profitability. SK Hynix anticipates a continuous increase in demand for high-performance, high-capacity memory with the expansion of the AI market. Particularly, as the focus shifts from AI training to inference, overall memory demand, including not only HBM but also server DRAM and NAND, is expected to expand. The company aims for sustained growth and profitability by maintaining its technological lead through stable supply of HBM3E and HBM4, developing customized AI memory solutions, and expanding the proportion of high-value-added products.