Nvidia supplier SK Hynix’s profit soars on AI demand boost but tariff threat lurks

It marks the company’s second-highest quarterly performance and comes on the heels of record revenue and profit in the prior quarter

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Published: 9:54am, 24 Apr 2025

SK Hynix’s operating profit jumped a bigger-than-expected 158 per cent, helped by both a global race in artificial intelligence (AI) and stockpiling ahead of US tariffs of both advanced chips and memory used in personal computers and smartphones.

The Icheon, South Korea-based company on Thursday warned that macroeconomic uncertainty create volatility in demand in the second half of the year. But it kept its forecast for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) demand to double in 2025, citing supply agreements made with customers a year in advance.

In the March quarter, SK Hynix reported operating income of 7.44 trillion won (US$5.2 billion), exceeding the projected 6.6 trillion won on a 42 per cent rise in revenue. It marked the company’s second-highest quarterly performance and came on the heels of record revenue and operating profit in the prior quarter.

SK Hynix’s results highlight the scale of global data-centre investments and the company’s leading role in supplying HBM needed for Nvidia’s accelerators to train AI.

An Nvidia logo is displayed on a building in Taipei. Photo: Reuters

The company is trying to outrun Samsung Electronics, which is focusing much of its considerable resources on taking market share away from its smaller South Korean rival in the lucrative AI memory market.