SK Hynix posts record Q2 profit on AI memory, misses estimates as shares drop 10%

South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix reported a record second-quarter operating profit that still missed analyst forecasts, and its shares fell 10%, Reuters reported. Operating profit for the April-June period reached 60.5 trillion won ($41.62 billion), up from 9.2 trillion won a year earlier and short of a 64 trillion won LSEG SmartEstimate. Quarterly revenue rose 257% to 79.3 trillion won. Net profit rose more than 13-fold to 93.9 trillion won, including 63.3 trillion won in gains related to investment assets that analysts linked to completion of the sale of its stake in Japanese NAND maker Kioxia. The Nvidia supplier said delays in shipments of some advanced products limited price gains for mainstay DRAM. SK Hynix also has higher exposure to high-bandwidth memory, whose prices rose less than conventional memory, analysts said. President Song Hyun-jong said major customers are still requesting more memory supply and that the company is seeking more long-term supply agreements, with talks concluded on around 10 such deals. SK Hynix said it plans to raise capital spending this year to the high-40 trillion won range, up from 30.173 trillion won in 2025. Net cash reached 88 trillion won at the end of June, with a target above 100 trillion won. The company said it could not yet detail shareholder returns but planned to disclose a plan later this year.