Korea Ratings, one of the three major domestic credit rating agencies, on the 30th raised SK hynix corporations' corporate credit rating by one notch from "AA (positive)" to "AA+ (stable)." This is the highest rating the agency has assigned to SK hynix. The credit rating was upgraded for the first time in eight years since 2018.
Korea Ratings cited as reasons for the upgrade: ▲ "a sharp improvement in operating performance" driven by strong artificial intelligence (AI) memory demand and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) technology leadership ▲ significant "enhancement of financial stability" based on improved cash generation ▲ expectations that the "financial structure improvement trend" will continue as it maintains a leading position in the HBM market.
SK hynix achieved massive operating profit by actively responding to HBM demand. As a result, net debt, which reached 23.6 trillion won at the end of 2023, fell to 11.3 trillion won at the end of 2024. Based on preliminary results for the end of 2025, it shifted to a net cash position of 12.7 trillion won (excluding lease liability).
A Korea Ratings official said, "Despite increased funding needs due to capacity expansions to serve HBM customers, infrastructure investments to secure long-term growth bases such as construction of M15X and the Yongin fab, and payment of the remaining acquisition price for Solidigm totaling 3.1 trillion won, cash flow improved significantly on the back of strong operating performance," and added, "This year, while continuing to lead the HBM market and extending the trend of performance improvement on the back of high margins, a sell-first, produce-later business structure based on long-term supply agreements is expected to act as a factor mitigating performance volatility."
It added, "Through an annual supply contract with Nvidia, we have fixed the volume and price for HBM supply in 2026," and noted, "Based on advantages in early response capability to customer demand and in meeting specifications, it is expected to maintain a leading supply position by securing more than half of customer demand for HBM4 as well."