South Korea’s memory chip giant is juggling two contrasting stories: a stunning run of record earnings and a mounting threat from a Chinese upstart that is undercutting prices in the standard DRAM market. SK Hynix reported an operating profit of 37.6 trillion won for the first quarter of 2026, a 400% year-on-year surge, as revenue doubled to 52.6 trillion won. The operating margin hit 72%, reflecting the pricing power that HBM (high-bandwidth memory) and tight supply have delivered.
Memory prices doubled in the first quarter, and a further increase of 63% is expected in the second quarter. The company’s HBM production capacity is sold out for the entire year, a clear sign of the insatiable demand from AI data centres. That momentum has also lifted the stock: by May 28, SK Hynix shares had climbed 245% since the start of 2025, and they continued to advance, closing at a 52-week high of
Yet the picture is not entirely rosy. ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), a Chinese rival, has doubled its global DRAM market share to 8% over the past year and is now preparing to raise roughly 295 billion yuan (6.5 trillion won) through an IPO on the Shanghai STAR Market, which it cleared on May 27. CXMT is offering standard DRAM products at prices 15–20% below those of South Korean competitors, putting pressure on the volume segments that Samsung and SK Hynix have increasingly ceded as they focus on AI-driven HBM.
SK Hynix’s response has been to double down on its strategic partnerships. On the same day CXMT’s IPO news emerged, the company was confirmed as a participant in the Series H funding round for Anthropic, the creator of the Claude AI assistant. The round raised $65 billion, valuing Anthropic at $965 billion. Cloud giants Amazon Web Services, Google, and Broadcom contributed $15 billion, while SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics, and Micron Technology shared the remainder.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying SK Hynix?
For SK Hynix, the investment is as much about product roadmaps as it is about financial returns. The company secures direct access to the specifications of next-generation AI models, allowing it to co-design future high-bandwidth memory modules. Unlike Samsung, SK Hynix does not operate a foundry for third parties; its entire strategy hinges on HBM packaging and memory solutions. That focus has paid off — the stock rose 20% in the seven trading days leading up to the Anthropic announcement alone.
The Chinese challenge, meanwhile, is real but comes at a time when SK Hynix is operating from a position of strength. Analysts at Mirae Asset Securities expect a supply shortfall for DRAM and NAND memory to persist through 2028, which should cushion the blow from any erosion in standard-chip margins. Long-term supply contracts in the AI segment, secured through partnerships like the Anthropic deal, further insulate the company from the volatility of the commodity memory market.
The broader market is taking notice. South Korea’s KOSPI index closed at a record 8,476 points on Friday, buoyed by the semiconductor sector. SK Hynix is also rumoured to be exploring a U.S. listing, a move that would deepen its global footprint as it races to stay ahead of both Western competitors and the fast-growing CXMT.
For now, the company is navigating two fronts: a price war in standard DRAM and a high-stakes alliance with the world’s most influential AI labs. The question is not whether SK Hynix can maintain its technology lead, but how long its margins in the legacy segments can hold.
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