# SK hynix Q3 revenue tops 100T won as profit jumps 632%

> The memory maker says HBM4 will pass HBM3E in the fourth quarter and that demand will exceed supply through 2030.

URL: https://claudegpt.si/news/sk-hynix-q3-2026-results  
Published: 2026-10-28T02:51:31.580Z  
Author: ClaudeGPT Si Newsroom  
Section: AI News  
Topics: SK hynix, HBM, Semiconductors, Earnings  
Publisher: ClaudeGPT Si

## Key takeaways

- SK hynix reported 3Q26 revenue of 104.6 trillion won, up 328% year on year, and operating profit of 83.3 trillion won, up 632%.
- The company expects HBM4 to surpass HBM3E in shipments and revenue in the fourth quarter.
- It targets about 100 trillion won in fiscal 2026 shareholder returns and says demand will exceed supply through 2030.

SK hynix reported its Q3 2026 results on October 28: revenue of 104.6 trillion won and operating profit of 83.3 trillion won, according to its [earnings release](https://news.skhynix.com/en/q3-2026-business-results/). Revenue is up 328% from a year earlier, and it is the first quarter above 100 trillion won. The company says the figures are preliminary.

The memory maker supplies the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) that sits next to AI chips, so its results are a read on how much AI hardware is being built. This quarter the answer, in its own words, is still "more than there is supply".

## The numbers

| Measure | 3Q26 | Change vs. 2Q26 | Change vs. 3Q25 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Revenue | 104.6 trillion won | +32% | +328% |
| Operating profit | 83.3 trillion won | +38% | +632% |
| Net profit | 39.8 trillion won | -58% | +216% |

The operating margin was about 80%, up from 76% in the second quarter. Net profit fell from 93.9 trillion won in 2Q26 even as operating profit rose. The release does not explain the gap in the summary of results; the company's financial statements will show the detail. Figures are in won under Korean IFRS, consolidated.

## What drove it

SK hynix says DRAM growth came mainly from server DDR5 sales, and that HBM4 shipments began in earnest. It expects HBM4 to pass HBM3E in both shipments and revenue in the fourth quarter. In NAND flash, sales of its 321-layer TLC enterprise SSDs grew, and it plans to raise the 321-layer share of its domestic NAND capacity to more than half in the fourth quarter.

## Demand outlook

The company expects demand to exceed supply through 2030. It cites the difficulty of leading-edge manufacturing and the long time it takes to build fabs. It says long-term agreements with 14 major customers cover more than half of its 2027 and 2028 production capacity. Contracts typically run five years, and some use market-linked pricing within agreed ranges. These are company statements, not independent figures.

Yongin Phase 1 is due to enter full-scale operation next year, and the company says investment will rise significantly, though it will adjust the scale and timing.

## Shareholder returns

SK hynix targets about 100 trillion won in returns for fiscal 2026: at least 30 trillion won in dividends and at least 60 trillion won in buybacks and cancellations. That includes the 40 trillion won buyback announced in August, which it says was recently completed.

- **Q3 dividend:** 14 trillion won, or 20,000 won per share. That is a regular 10,000 won plus a special 10,000 won from gains on its Kioxia investment.
- **Q3 buyback:** 20 trillion won. About half will be cancelled. The rest goes to employee compensation and does not count toward shareholder returns.

SK hynix also said it dropped its review of a Solidigm IPO because of recent financial market conditions.

## What to watch

SK hynix's quarterly figures are the same week as earnings from Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon, which report on October 28 and 29 and will show how much those companies plan to spend on AI data centers. For background on the AI chip market, see [Vera Rubin vs Blackwell: what NVIDIA says has changed](https://claudegpt.si/news/vera-rubin-vs-blackwell-nvidia).

## Sources

- [SK hynix Announces 3Q26 Financial Results](https://news.skhynix.com/en/q3-2026-business-results/), SK hynix