SK hynix reports record Q2 2026 profit, but shares drop after results miss expectations

SK hynix is one of the big three when it comes to memory, so it's no surprise that the company's latest earnings report for Q2 2026 reflects a record-high operating profit thanks to the demand for HBM and other high-performance memory. With KRW 60.5 trillion in profit, this represents a 557% increase year-over-year; however, even this astronomically high figure failed to meet expectations.

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Throw in overall revenue of KRW 79.3 trillion, a 257% increase from a year ago, and SK hynix's share price still managed to drop by over 9% on Wednesday. One reason the company's Q2 performance fell short is continued DRAM price increases and SK hynix's inability to pass them on because it has long-term supply agreements (LTAs) with key customers already in place. Reporting indicates approximately 50% of the company's total sales were made via these long-term contracts.

But these lower prices are temporary, with several of these contracts concluding. And with SK hynix beginning to mass produce and ship next-gen HBM4 memory, it's expected that demand from the AI and data center markets will continue to increase as next-gen systems like NVIDIA's Vera Rubin begin to roll out in volume. HBM4 memory is widely viewed as a critical component in this next generation of AI hardware, with all of the big three (SK hynix, Samsung, and Micron) on board to supply HBM4 to NVIDIA.

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Why did SK hynix's share price fall by over 9% despite record-high Q2 2026 operating profit?

SK hynix's shares fell because the company’s Q2 results, despite record operating profit, missed market expectations. A key reason cited is that ongoing DRAM price increases could not be fully passed on to customers due to long-term supply agreements covering about 50% of sales, which weighed on the perceived quality of the earnings.

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How much were SK hynix's reported operating profit and overall revenue for Q2 2026?

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Question #3

What portion of SK hynix's sales were made under long-term contracts during Q2 2026?

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Question #4

What progress has SK hynix made with HBM4 production and shipping mentioned in the report?

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"With major tech companies increasing their AI infrastructure investments, additional supply requests continue to mount," the company said. "As these investments are supported by revenue generated from AI services, the momentum in memory demand is expected to persist." And with that, analysts are already predicting another 30%, at least, price increase for memory in Q3 2026, with the supply shortfall expected to persist through 2028.