SK hynix Posts Record Operating Profit of 83.3338 Trillion Won as Vertiv Raises Outlook
Key Facts
SK hynix on October 28 reported record quarterly revenue of 104.6155 trillion won, record operating profit of 83.3338 trillion won and net profit of 39.7756 trillion won in the third quarter of 2026. The company said growing demand for AI memory lifted prices for its main products, as sales of DDR5 servers expanded and large-scale shipments of HBM4 began. Sales of high-value NAND memory for data centers also increased. The company reported an operating margin of 80%. Its results reflect the extension of AI-related demand to server and data-center components, alongside strong results from digital infrastructure company Vertiv.
SK hynix revenue rose 32% from the second quarter, when it was 79.3187 trillion won, while operating profit increased 38% from 60.5426 trillion won. The stock jumped 7% on Wednesday, October 28, reaching its highest level in two weeks, according to The Associated Press, after the company reported record operating profit that exceeded market estimates. The stock closed at $145.36 on October 27, according to EL7 data. On the same day, Vertiv shares rose about 15.1% before the market opened after the company reported results and raised its annual outlook. Vertiv shares closed at $208.56 on October 27, according to EL7 data, a day before the company released its third-quarter results.
Vertiv posted net sales of $4.313 billion in the third quarter, up 61% year over year. Diluted earnings per share rose 91% to $1.95, while adjusted diluted earnings per share increased 78% to $2.21. The company said sales growth spanned its main regions, with sales up 75% in the Americas, 50% in Asia Pacific and 23% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Organic orders grew by more than 100% year over year. Adjusted operating margin was 25.2%, up 290 basis points from the third quarter of 2025, with the company attributing the improvement to operating leverage and manufacturing productivity, partly offset by product mix and growth investments.
Vertiv raised its fiscal 2026 outlook to net sales of $14.65 billion at the midpoint of its range and adjusted diluted earnings per share of $7.15. SK hynix, meanwhile, said it had signed long-term supply agreements with 14 major customers, covering more than 50% of its production capacity for 2027 and 2028. The company expects HBM4 shipments and revenue to exceed those of HBM3E in the fourth quarter, and said HBM4 would become its main product starting that quarter. It also said customer demand for memory could remain above its supply capacity even after 2030. The company announced a shareholder return plan of about 100 trillion won in 2026, including cash dividends of at least 30 trillion won and share buybacks and cancellations of at least 60 trillion won.
The two stocks' gains came amid a market in which advances by AI-related companies overlapped with investor focus on oil, bond yields and the Federal Reserve meeting. The Associated Press reported that the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell on the morning of October 28 to 4.99% from 5.00% late on Monday, October 26. Earlier, Brent crude rose 3.1% on October 23 to $116.72 a barrel, its highest level since June 2022, while the 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 4.99% from 4.96% the previous day. Those moves preceded the companies' results announcements and therefore do not explain their October 27 closing share prices. The Federal Open Market Committee meeting was scheduled for October 27 and 28, with a news conference set for October 28.