SK Hynix Q2 recap: Demand, HBM and the memory supercycle

Introduction

SK hynix posted 79.3187 trillion won ($54.6B) in revenue and 60.5426 trillion won ($41.6B) in operating profit for Q2 2026, both records. And yet shares fell double digits after earnings. Most likely because investors focused on the headline revenue miss. Let me walk you through the quarter and highlight the most important parts.

1 - What SK hynix does

SK hynix is one of the world's largest memory chipmakers, producing DRAM and NAND flash chips that go into everything from smartphones to AI servers. The business line that matters most right now is HBM, high bandwidth memory, the specialized chip stacked directly next to AI accelerators like Nvidia's GPUs to feed them data fast enough to keep up.

Revenue is driven by a mix of shipment volumes and average selling prices, and right now pricing power sits almost entirely with whoever controls the tightest supply, which today is SK hynix and a small handful of peers.

2 - Key numbers

Revenue: 79.3187 trillion won ($54.6B), up 257% year over year, up 51% quarter over quarter
Operating profit: 60.5426 trillion won ($41.6B), up 557% year over year, up 61% quarter over quarter
Operating margin: 76%, up 4 percentage points quarter over quarter
Net profit: 93.9226 trillion won ($64.6B), net margin of 118%
Net non-operating profit: 62.2 trillion won ($42.8B), including 63.3 trillion won ($43.5B) in gains from the sale and valuation of investment assets
Cash and cash equivalents: 88 trillion won ($60.5B), up 33.6 trillion won quarter over quarter
Net cash position: 69.4 trillion won ($47.7B)
First half 2026 revenue: surpassed 100 trillion won for the first time in company history
DRAM ASP: up approximately 30% quarter over quarter
NAND ASP: up approximately mid 50% quarter over quarter

ASP mean 'average selling price'. Also note that the DRAM and NAND numbers are quarter over quarter, NOT year over year. Which makes these numbers even more impressive.

3 - Outlook

Q3 DRAM bit shipments guided up approximately 10% quarter over quarter, focused on server products
Q3 NAND bit shipments guided up low single digit percent quarter over quarter
FY26 CapEx guided to the high 40 trillion won range ($27.6B), up from 30.2 trillion won in 2025
Long term agreements finalized with around 10 key customers to lock in multi-year supply and pricing stability
DRAM market demand projected to grow mid 20% for the year, NAND high teens, both supply constrained

Revenue and operating profit both missed consensus, with analysts having modeled closer to 84 trillion won in revenue and 64 trillion won in operating profit.

The company's numbers show why: DRAM bit shipments grew high single digits and NAND grew mid teens, both described as in line with guidance, but the mix leaned heavily toward HBM, and HBM pricing did not keep pace with the sharper rally in conventional DRAM this quarter.

In my view, this is a subtle but important detail, being the most exposed to the highest value product in the portfolio briefly worked against SK hynix rather than for it, because commodity DRAM got a bigger price pop than HBM did. In the long term, I think this is in fact very bullish for the company because HBM has a longer runway for growth.