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• Quarterly Revenue: KRW19.77 trillion, up 12% from the previous quarter and 75% year-over-year.

• Operating Income: KRW8.08 trillion, with an operating margin of 41%.

• EBITDA: KRW11.25 trillion, with an EBITDA margin of 57%.

• Net Income: KRW8.01 trillion, with a net profit margin of 41%.

• Annual Revenue (2024): KRW66.2 trillion.

• Annual Operating Income (2024): KRW23.5 trillion.

• Cash and Cash Equivalents: KRW14.2 trillion, up KRW5.2 trillion from the previous year.

• Interest-Bearing Debt: KRW22.7 trillion, decreased by KRW0.8 trillion from the previous year.

• Debt to Equity Ratio: 31%.

• Net Debt to Equity Ratio: 12%.

• Free Cash Flow: KRW13.9 trillion.

• Dividend: KRW1,305 per share.

Release Date: January 23, 2025

For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Positive Points

• SK Hynix Inc (FRA:HY9H) achieved record high quarterly revenue of KRW19.77 trillion in Q4 2024, marking a 12% increase from the previous quarter and a 75% increase year-over-year.

• The company saw significant growth in high-value products such as HBM and enterprise SSDs, which contributed to stable revenue and profits despite market fluctuations.

• Operating income in Q4 increased by KRW1.05 trillion to KRW8.08 trillion, with an operating margin of 41%, indicating strong profitability.

• SK Hynix Inc (FRA:HY9H) reported a substantial increase in annual HBM sales, growing more than 4.5 times compared to the previous year.

• The company improved its financial stability with a debt to equity ratio of 31% and a net debt to equity ratio of 12%, alongside a significant increase in cash and cash equivalents.

Negative Points

• There was a delay in the recovery of demand for consumer products like PCs and smartphones, impacting overall purchasing demand.

• Inventory adjustments by PC and mobile customers led to a mid-single digit percentage decrease in both shipments and ASP for enterprise SSDs.

• The memory market faces challenges from inventory adjustments, protective trade policies, and geopolitical risks, clouding the demand outlook for 2025.

• Commodity memory prices began to decline due to weak demand and increased supply from Chinese manufacturers, which may continue into the first half of the year.

• The company anticipates a low-teen percent sequential decrease in DRAM bit shipments in Q1 2025 due to seasonally weak demand and high inventory levels.

Q & A Highlights

Q: How do you view the memory market for this year, considering the decline in commodity memory prices due to weak demand and increased supply from Chinese manufacturers? Is this a short-term adjustment or a longer-term correction similar to 2023? A: Woo-Hyun Kim, VP & CFO: We anticipate that the commodity memory market will continue to show weak pricing trends in the short term due to low seasonal demand and inventory adjustments. However, in the second half, we expect increased demand for high-end memory in AI PCs and smartphones, which should balance supply and demand. We predict continuous growth in the AI memory market, while conventional memory markets will undergo a gradual correction.