SK hynix Announces Third Quarter 2023 Financial Results
SK Hynix has unveiled its financial report for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2023, culminating on September 30th, 2023. The data reveals a sustained recovery in performance following a nadir in the first quarter, particularly driven by burgeoning market demands centralized around high-performance semiconductor memory products. Of particular note are the robust sales trajectories for key products tailored for Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications, including the emblematic HBM3 memory, high-capacity DDR5 DRAM, and high-performance mobile DRAM.
The financials disclose that SK Hynix’s revenue for the third quarter of 2023 stood at 9.0662 trillion Korean Won (equivalent to approximately $6.678 billion), marking a year-on-year decline of 17%, but a sequential growth of 24%. The operating deficit amounted to 1.7920 trillion Korean Won (roughly $1.32 billion), transitioning from profit to loss compared to the same period last year, albeit a quarter-on-quarter growth of 38%. The net loss aggregated to 2.1847 trillion Korean Won (about $1.609 billion), also shifting from profit to loss year-over-year, with a sequential rise of 27%. Concurrently, the operating loss rate stood at 20%, with a net loss rate of 24%.
From a product perspective, the DRAM, which catered to high-performance applications such as AI for servers, witnessed a commendable sales momentum with shipment volumes escalating by approximately 20% compared to the second quarter. Simultaneously, the Average Selling Price (ASP) also rose by around 10%. Shipments of NAND flash, especially for high-capacity mobile products and solid-state drives, have experienced an uptick. SK Hynix underscored the profound significance of DRAM’s swift turnaround from profit to loss within a mere two quarters.
Projecting forward, SK Hynix anticipates an optimistic landscape, with the previously loss-incurring DRAM benefiting from the AI surge, foreseeing a consistent positive trend. Meanwhile, the perennially loss-sustaining NAND flash manifests signs of gradual improvement. As production cuts expand, product prices are gravitating towards stabilization. Strategically, SK Hynix has resolved to augment investments in high-value flagship products like HBM, DDR5, and LPDDR5 DRAM. This entails a production line transition centered around the fourth-generation 10nm-class (1a) and the fifth-generation 10nm-class (1b) DRAM, complemented by increased investments in HBM TSV technology.
