Revenues reached 17.57 trillion won ($12.72 billion) during the July-to-September period, up 93.8 percent year-on-year, while operating profit stood at 7.03 trillion won, swinging to the black from a 1.79 trillion won operating loss a year ago. Operating profit margin climbed to an impressive 40 percent.

These figures represent SK hynix's highest-ever quarterly performance. Revenues rose to a new peak after reaching 16.42 trillion won in the second quarter. Operating profit significantly surpassed the 6.47 trillion won achieved in the third quarter of 2018, when the semiconductor industry was in a lucrative upcycle.

Earlier this month, rival chipmaker Samsung Electronics projected an operating profit of 9.1 trillion won for the third quarter, with the market estimating that earnings from its chip businesses would range from 4 trillion won to 4.4 trillion won.

Given SK hynix's strong earnings in recent quarters and positive expectations for the fourth quarter, the company is poised to overtake Samsung Electronics and become Korea's most profitable chipmaker when the yearly results are tallied at the end of the year.

SK hynix acknowledged that while it is investing to meet next year's demand, it is facing limitations in manufacturing capacity. To address this, the company plans to reduce legacy manufacturing processes, such as those for HBM3 and DDR4 chips, and expand its capacity for producing HBM3e chips.

By: Docmemory
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