Shares of South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix soared 11% on Wednesday after the company reported record Q3 quarterly profits that sharply exceeded estimates. The company also announced it will return about $75 billion to shareholders this year, it.
SK Hynix’s third-quarter highlights included revenue of $78.86 billion, a 327.9% increase from a year earlier, while operating profit rose 632.1% year over year.
Compared with the previous quarter, revenue increased 31.9%, while operating profit surged 37.6%.
On the earnings call, SK Hynix CEO Kwak Noh-Jung said the company had to suspend its review of potential pre-IPO fundraising and IPO options for its U.S. subsidiary, Solidigm.”Solidigm has concluded that an IPO would not fully deliver the anticipated benefits at this time,” he added.
Kwak said, “We intend to return the gains realized from our investment in Kioxia this year to our shareholders through a special dividend.”
Addressing the possibility of a slowdown in customers’ AI spending, Chief Financial Officer Kim Woo-hyun said: “We expect AI investment momentum to continue, as customers’ AI spending is translating into broader adoption of AI services and tangible business results, while the range of companies investing in AI is also becoming more diversified,” Kim said.
In the earnings release, the Nvidia supplier said it has sold out of HBM and DRAM chips through 2029, that HBM demand is twice supply, and that the chip shortage is likely to persist through 2030.
By CEO NA Editorial Staff
