SK Hynix posts record quarterly earnings in Q3

SK Hynix, the world's second-largest memory chip maker, posted a record quarterly earnings in the third quarter due to solid demand for DRAM chips and improved profitability in the NAND flash memory chip business, a regulatory filing showed Thursday.

Operating profit reached 1.3 trillion won (1.23 billion U.S. dollars) in the three months ending Sept. 30, marking the largest in the company's history. It was up 11.7 percent from the same period of last year, beating average market estimates of 1.27 trillion won.

Revenue increased 5.6 percent from a year earlier to reach an all-time high of 4.31 trillion won in the third quarter, and net income posted a record high of 1.1 trillion won.

The record profits came on the back of robust demand for DRAM chips used in PCs and computer servers as well as an expanded production of 20 nm class DRAM chips.

Shipments of NAND flash memory chips surged 26 percent amid an expanded production of 10 nm class chips.

The company forecast that the DRAM chip market would show a stable growth trend on strong demand for chips used in servers and mobile devices.