[Click eStock] "SK Hynix, Continuing Differentiation with HBM"

Record-High Operating Profit Expected to Be Surpassed Again

SK Hynix is expected to steadily improve its performance by offsetting the decline in profits from general-purpose memory such as NAND through differentiation in high-bandwidth memory (HBM).

On the 24th, KB Securities raised SK Hynix's target stock price by 16.6% to 280,000 KRW, citing this background. The closing price on the previous day was 219,500 KRW. The investment opinion of 'Buy' was also maintained.

The reason for the target price increase is the performance. From the second quarter of this year, SK Hynix is estimated to generate more than half of its DRAM operating profit from HBM by actively shipping the highly profitable HBM3E 12-layer products. For general-purpose memory, supply is expected to decrease due to reduced wafer input caused by production cuts and transition to advanced processes.

Additionally, with increasing demand for on-device artificial intelligence (AI) products in mobile and PB sectors, the oversupply is expected to gradually ease from the second quarter of this year. Accordingly, it is analyzed that general-purpose memory prices will enter a stable phase from the second half of the year. Therefore, KB Securities revised SK Hynix's expected net profit upward to 25.1 trillion KRW for this year and 33.8 trillion KRW for 2026, respectively.

The total sales for this year are forecasted to reach 81 trillion KRW, and operating profit 31.7 trillion KRW, increasing by 23% and 35% respectively compared to the same period last year. It is expected to surpass the record-high operating profit achieved last year once again.

Dongwon Kim, a researcher at KB Securities, explained, "Especially this year, SK Hynix is expected to achieve the highest-ever DRAM operating profit of 31 trillion KRW, a 48% increase compared to the same period last year, based on its number one market share in the HBM3E 12-layer market. It is anticipated that performance differentiation will be realized by offsetting the profit decline in the general-purpose memory sector, including NAND."