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

Q: 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.

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

SK hynix reported an operating profit of KRW 60.5 trillion for Q2 2026. Its overall revenue for the quarter was KRW 79.3 trillion.

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

Approximately 50% of SK hynix's total sales in Q2 2026 were made under long-term supply contracts.

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

The report says SK hynix has begun to mass produce and ship next-gen HBM4 memory, positioning it to meet growing AI and data center demand and to supply NVIDIA. Additional related coverage notes SK hynix has made "significant" progress in NVIDIA's extensive HBM4 qualification tests and is close to mass supply (Related 1 , News #109956).

And yet the company's performance fell below expectations leading to SK hynix's share price to drop by around 9% following the release of its latest report.

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Kosta Andreadis

Senior Editor

Published Jul 30, 2026 1:56 AM CDT

1 minute & 15 seconds read time

TL;DR: SK hynix posted record Q2 2026 results-KRW 60.5 trillion operating profit (557% YoY) and KRW 79.3 trillion revenue (257% YoY)-but missed expectations, causing shares to fall ~9%. LTAs kept DRAM prices low for ~50% of sales, while HBM4 production and rising AI/data‑center demand should tighten supply and lift prices.

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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.

SK hynix reports record Q2 2026 profit, but shares drop after results miss expectations 1

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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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Question #1

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

Question #2

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

Question #3

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

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.