SK hynix posted an operating profit of 1.91696 trillion won in the fourth quarter of last year, beating market expectations with a "surprise earnings" result. The company maintained high growth centered on high bandwidth memory (HBM) while defending its AI memory supremacy throughout last year. Revenue, operating profit, and operating margin all set new records in the fourth quarter of last year, proving its strength.
On the 28th, SK hynix said it posted fourth-quarter revenue of 3.28267 trillion won, operating profit up 68% to 1.91696 trillion won, and an operating margin of 58%, with all three indicators hitting a record high on a quarterly basis. On an annual basis, revenue was 9.71467 trillion won, operating profit 4.72063 trillion won (operating margin 49%), and net profit 4.29479 trillion won (net margin 44%).
The key driver of the best-ever results was an increase in the average selling price (ASP) fueled by explosive HBM demand and a concurrent boom in commodity DRAM. In particular, HBM is cited as a product with high profit contribution, as demand remains solid on the back of expanded investment in AI servers and its product characteristics yield a high share of high-value, high-priced offerings. Analysts say that as both Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, the two DRAM powerhouses, allocated significant production capacity to HBM, the commodity DRAM market also faced a deepening supply shortage, sending prices sharply higher.
Regarding the results, SK hynix said, "This is the outcome of strategic responses that secured both profitability and growth by strengthening technological competitiveness and increasing the share of high-value products in line with demand structures reorganizing around AI," adding, "2025 was a year that once again proved world-class technological competitiveness."
Specifically, in the DRAM institutional sector, HBM revenue more than doubled from a year earlier, contributing to the creation of the best operating results ever. General-purpose DRAM also began full-scale mass production of 10-nanometer-class 6th-generation (1c-nano) DDR5, and by developing the industry's highest-capacity 256GB DDR5 RDIMM based on 10-nanometer-class 5th-generation (1b-nano) 32Gb, the company proved its leadership in server modules. In the NAND institutional sector as well, despite weak demand in the first half, the company completed development of a 321-layer quad-level cell (QLC) product, and in the second half responded to demand centered on enterprise SSDs, recording the highest annual revenue.
SK hynix also expressed confidence in HBM4, the 6th-generation HBM expected to be the biggest battleground in the AI memory market this year. SK hynix explained, "HBM4, for which we established a mass-production system for the first time in the industry in September last year, is currently being produced in the quantities requested by customers," adding, "We will secure continued leadership in HBM4 and strengthen our cooperation framework with customers and partners so we can supply optimal products in 'custom HBM,' which is emerging as a next-generation key competitive factor."
The company will also expand production capacity, which is considered weaker than that of rival Samsung Electronics. It plans to maximize production at Cheongju M15X early and to steadily expand mid- to long-term production capacity by building the first fab in Yongin. The company is also expediting preparations for Cheongju P&T7 and the Advanced Packaging plant in Indiana, United States, to respond flexibly to changes in customer demand across both front-end and back-end processes.
Meanwhile, SK hynix announced a large-scale shareholder return policy to enhance shareholder value, backed by financial capacity secured through record results. First, it will pay an additional dividends of 1,500 won per share, totaling 1 trillion won. As a result, the year-end dividends will be 1,875 won per share, adding the additional payout to the existing quarterly dividends of 375 won. Consequently, dividends per share for the 2025 fiscal year will be 3,000 won, and the company will return a total of 2.1 trillion won to shareholders.