SK Hynix Short Selling Hits Record as AI Sector Worries Grow

In This Article

• SK Hynix Profit More Than Doubles On AI Chip Demand
• SK Hynix Signals Strong HBM Demand with AI Advancement
• Summary

On April 24, SK Hynix issued a report on its first-quarter operating profit of 2025 with a 185% increase. Although the tariffs and other economic conditions are working against the companies in the UK, the surge is driven by the high demand for AI processors.

SK Hynix is a semiconductor manufacturer from South Korea and is the second-largest memory chip maker in the world. The company is the global leader in AI memory and is primarily popular for its High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) and SSD RAM enterprise.

SK Hynix Profit More Than Doubles On AI Chip Demand

SK Hynix is the key supplier to Nvidia and reported that it is 158% of the operating profit, and the reason is the high AI demand worldwide, which creates powerful AI chips. After the President Trump administration imposed high tariffs, influencing the scrutiny of the semiconductor imports, the company claims its minimal disruption in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chip sales.

The company has shared its earnings briefing for its quarterly operating profit, showing the figures of 5.2 billion USD (7.4 trillion won), which is its second-highest profit in its history. The company is working on the most demanding chips, the AI training chips, and the analysts were expecting the profit, but the company has done more than expected.

According to the LSEG SmartEstimate, the company was expecting the 6.6 trillion won and the revenue jump to more than 42%, and its product demand is boosted by the AI-driven technologies. The demand for the AI chips in smartphones and computers is ahead of the tariff effects.

Artificial intelligence is the leading technology that is in demand worldwide, not only in hardware devices but also in websites and applications, making them efficient and flawless. Weborik Hub is making its clients’ web solutions integrated with AI features, presenting more efficiency and generating more revenue than ever.

SK Hynix Signals Strong HBM Demand with AI Advancement

After Donald Trump announced the tariffs, the industries were facing an economic crisis, but the high demand for AI chips and the company’s work on the HBM have created a different condition in the sales. The company claims that the demand for 12-layer HBM3E memory is high, and the sales plan with the major client Nvidia is the same as before the tariffs were announced.

According to the company, the sales expectation for the current year is nearly double as compared to the previous year. The plan for Q2 this year is to create a 12-layer version of the HBM3E designed to power the AI and machine learning algorithms, and the company will generate 50% of the revenue from its sales.

SK Hynix has officially stated during its earnings call:

Despite global uncertainty, we will maintain our sales strategy and support customer needs through close collaboration within our supply chain

Although the performance for the first quarter makes it clear that the demand for AI is far more than the tariff effects, the second quarter is not going to be the same. The company claims that the microeconomic uncertainties with the government policies will create volatility in the next round.

While reciprocal tariff measures between some countries are currently suspended, there are growing concerns that tariff can be applied to semiconductor products

Summary

SK Hynix is the global leader in AI chip manufacturing, having major clients like Nvidia, and the recognition around the world is that it is the second-best seller. It has shown the first quarter report for the current year, and its economics have surprised others with 158% more profit even after the high imposition of the tariffs.

The high demand for AI chips in devices like smartphones and laptops has led the company to generate more revenue than ever. However, the company shows that the second quarter sales will be more affected by the tariffs, and the results may be different.