SK hynix defies seasonal downturn to post surprising Q1 operating profit

SK hynix far outperformed already high market expectations for its first-quarter earnings, defying the typical seasonal downturn for chipmakers to deliver its second-highest quarterly sales and operating profit ever. The memory chip giant announced Thursday it recorded an operating profit of 7.44 trillion won ($5.21 billion) in the first quarter of this year, marking a 157.8 percent increase year-on-year. Revenue for the January-to-March period reached 17.64 trillion won, up 41.9 percent from the same period last year. The numbers exceeded brokerages’ consensus of 6.6 trillion won in operating profit and 17.28 trillion won in sales. It is the company’s second-highest quarterly earnings, following record-breaking results in the fourth quarter of last year. The company’s operating margin also improved by 1 percentage point from three months earlier to reach 42 percent, extending an uptrend for the eighth consecutive quarter. “During the first quarter, the memory chip market recovered faster than expectations due to as race for developing artificial intelligence (AI) services acceleWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times