🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Record profits are fueling this stock surge

• SK hynix tied the stock run to historic results, with full-year 2025 operating profit reaching a record 47.2 trillion won 1.
• Operating profit more than doubled from the prior year, helped by AI-driven demand as revenue from high-bandwidth memory (HBM), a type of high-speed memory used in AI chips, rose more than 100% year-on-year 1.
• Momentum carried into late 2025, with fourth-quarter operating profit jumping 137% year-on-year to 19.2 trillion won and coming in above analyst forecasts 2.

AI leadership is reshaping chip industry power dynamics

• In 2025, the memory-focused company moved ahead of Samsung Electronics in annual operating profit for the first time 3.
• Strength in specialized AI parts is paying off, with estimates placing SK hynix’s HBM market share above 50% despite rivals selling across wider product lines 2.
• The company said it is reviewing a possible U.S. stock market listing using treasury shares, which are shares it previously repurchased and holds, though it has not made a final decision 4.