[Economy Pick] SK Hynix's 'Greatest Ever' Performance on HBM

[Anchor]
It's an economic pick time to easily point out economic issues.

Today, we are with reporter Park Ki-wan from the Ministry of Economy.

Let's meet today's first keyword, a video.

How good was SK Hynix's performance?

[Reporter]
Yes, SK Hynix just flew up.

Sales, operating profit, and net profit all hit record highs in the third quarter.

First, operating profit was KRW 7.3 trillion and net profit was KRW 5.8 trillion, turning into a surplus compared to last year.

It also broke its record in the third quarter of 2018, which was called the semiconductor super boom, in six years.

Sales also reached a new record of 17.6 trillion won in one quarter.

[Anchor]
In the case of Samsung Electronics, the semiconductor sector was sluggish in the third quarter, so what difference was there?

[Reporter]
It can be seen that the situation between SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics depends on whether Nvidia is delivered or not.

SK Hynix exclusively supplies HBM to Nvidia, the 'big hand of artificial intelligence'.

In particular, since March, we have delivered the industry's first 5th generation HBM 8th stage.

HBM sales in the third quarter were up more than 70% from the previous quarter and more than 330% from the third quarter of last year as Nvidia's demand was supported.

As a result, the proportion of HBM's sales among memory semiconductors has expanded to 30% and is expected to gradually increase.

SK Hynix also expressed confidence that it is the best in the industry in terms of technology and production capacity.

Let's listen to it for ourselves.

[KIM KYUHYUN / SK Hynix DRAM Marketing Manager: On the contrary, the technical difficulty of developing new HBM products is increasing, and given factors such as loss of yield and customer certification, it will not be easy for the memory industry to provide enough products for customers in a timely manner.]

Samsung Electronics also developed the 5th generation HBM 12th stage first, and its technology was not lagging behind.

However, Nvidia's quality test passing for the 5th generation HBM is being delayed.

As a result, instead of AI warmth, we are facing unfavorable factors such as sluggish demand for smartphones and China's low-cost offensive.

[Anchor]
SK Hynix may have overtaken Samsung Electronics?

[Reporter]
Yes, Samsung Electronics' provisional operating profit in the third quarter was 9.1 trillion won.

Although the performance of each division has not been disclosed yet, it is expected to be around 4 trillion won if only the semiconductor division is considered.

SK Hynix is expected to beat Samsung Electronics for the first time in the semiconductor business performance competition.

[Anchor]
Yes, apart from this, Tesla also announced a surprise performance?

[Reporter]
Yes, Tesla reported third-quarter earnings that exceeded market expectations.

In particular, net profit in the third quarter was $2.17 billion, up 17.3% from last year.

Above all, "earnings per share", which means earnings per share, was 72 cents, far exceeding market expectations.

Although the results were announced after the U.S. market closed, they jumped more than 12% in after-hours trading.

Our secondary battery stocks also fluctuated due to the good news about electric vehicles that we haven't heard in a long time.