{"text":[[{"start":8.08,"text":"SK Hynix posted better than expected quarterly profits on Wednesday as booming demand for AI infrastructure showed no signs of abating and continued to drive sales of its advanced memory chips."}],[{"start":21.32,"text":"Operating profit rose 38 per cent to Won83.33tn ($62.5bn) in the three months to September 30 compared with the previous quarter — 8.6 per cent higher than the Won76.7tn forecast by LSEG SmartEstimate. Revenue was up 32 per cent to Won104.62tn."}],[{"start":45.84,"text":"SK Hynix said its performance reflected rising memory prices and increased sales of higher-value products such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM)."}],[{"start":55.6,"text":"The company will also return about Won100tn ($75bn) to investors this year after announcing dividends and buybacks worth an additional Won60tn."}],[{"start":67.28,"text":"Hynix struck a positive tone on its conference call, saying its DRam and high-bandwidth memory production was sold out until 2029 and forecast a sharp increase in HBM revenue next year."}],[{"start":80.04,"text":"Executives also expected major customers’ AI revenue and cash flow to improve, supporting continued investment in infrastructure."}],[{"start":87.56,"text":"Hynix shares jumped 9 per cent on the results, but remain 17 per cent lower over the past month following recent gyrations in the AI trade."}],[{"start":92.24,"text":"South Korea’s Kospi gained more than 6 per cent, paring its losses over the past month to 13 per cent. The chipmaker accounts for about a fifth of the index. Rival Samsung Electronics also gained more than 8 per cent on Wednesday."}],[{"start":null,"text":"
"}],[{"start":111.92,"text":"Some calm has returned to the AI trade this week following Anthropic’s blockbuster IPO filing on Monday, with the Nasdaq 100 closing 1.3 per cent higher on Tuesday, adding to a 1.1 per cent increase on Monday."}],[{"start":126.2,"text":"Peter Kim of KB Securities in Seoul said Hynix’s results confirmed its momentum. “However, the stock market and the AI sector are focused on next year and beyond rather than current earnings due to concerns over the sustainability of AI spending and a tougher funding environment,” he added."}],[{"start":143.2,"text":"Hynix said its operating margin reached 79.7 per cent, putting it alongside US rival Micron, which reported a margin of 80.7 per cent in its most recent quarter."}],[{"start":154.08,"text":"However, net profit fell 57.7 per cent from the previous quarter to Won39.78tn. The second quarter was aided by the then-surging share price of Kioxia, the Japanese memory-chip maker in which SK Hynix acquired a stake in 2018."}],[{"start":171.72,"text":"Hynix was bullish on future memory demand, forecasting persistent shortages through to 2030 as AI adoption broadened beyond big-tech firms to the wider corporate sector and national projects."}],[{"start":184,"text":"“A virtuous cycle has taken hold in which AI-driven productivity gains and new revenue generation in areas such as software development, customer service, and search lead to greater AI adoption, which in turn drives increased investment in infrastructure,” the company said."}],[{"start":200.6,"text":"Hynix also said long-term agreements with 14 major customers now covered more than half of production capacity for 2027 and 2028."}],[{"start":210,"text":"Asked by analysts about a future glut in the event of a cyclical downturn, executives said they would build new chip factories ahead of demand but install equipment and increase production in stages, allowing expansion to be slowed if market conditions weakened."}],[{"start":225.4,"text":"Last week SK Hynix halted a planned US listing of its California-based flash memory subsidiary Solidigm, which chief executive Kwak Noh-jung said on Wednesday was due to market volatility and falling semiconductor stock prices."}],[{"start":243.76,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1793165468_7296.mp3"}