SK hynix banks its first 100 trillion won quarter at an 80% margin as Apple cuts iPhone orders
Record revenue of 104.6 trillion won at an 80% operating margin, with 14 customers already contracted for more than half of 2027 and 2028 supply. Phone and PC buyers are footing the bill, and Samsung reports the duopoly's other half on October 29.
Vincent Jiang · 3 min read
The first 100 trillion won quarter
SK hynix+4.89% — SK hynix, up 4.89 percent today posted 104.6155 trillion won of July-September revenue, the first quarter above 100 trillion in its history, up 328% from a year earlier, with operating profit of 83.3338 trillion won and net profit of 39.7756 trillion won 1. The operating margin reached 80%, from 47% a year ago 1.
Cash of 114.5 trillion won against 15.8 trillion won of borrowings leaves 98.7 trillion won of net cash 1. The board resolved a 14 trillion won dividend, half of it a 10,000-won-per-share special from the Kioxia stake sale, plus a 20 trillion won buyback, inside roughly 100 trillion won ($75 billion) of 2026 shareholder returns 12. Profit beat the 76.7 trillion won LSEG estimate and the shares closed up 2% 3.
Half of 2027 and 2028 is already sold
Most of the growth is under contract. Fourteen customers, leading cloud providers among them, hold long-term agreements covering more than half of 2027 and 2028 production capacity, typically on five-year terms with prices that float inside agreed bands 13. HBM4, the newest stacked memory for AI processors, passes HBM3E in shipments and revenue this quarter as the M15X fab reaches maximum capacity by year end 1. Management expects demand to outrun supply through 2030 and lifts capital spending next year as Yongin phase one starts up 1.
Operating margin went 47, 76, 80, and the climb is flattening
Data
| Operating margin | |
|---|---|
| 3Q25 | 47% |
| 2Q26 | 76% |
| 3Q26 | 80% |
Phone and PC buyers fund the margin
Counterpoint counted third-quarter smartphone shipments down 20% year on year, the weakest since 2012, and Apple+1.00% — Apple, up 1.00 percent today asked suppliers to cut iPhone 18 Pro component orders for October by at least 15% 4. TrendForce measured conventional DRAM contract prices up 13 to 18% in the third quarter and forecasts 10 to 15% in the fourth, slower not because supply returned but because phone and PC buyers ran out of room to pay 56. Memory now makes up about 35% of a PC's component cost at HP−1.20% — HP, down 1.20 percent today, roughly double two quarters ago 6.
Peak margin or contracted floor
Doubt is priced anyway. SKHY fell 23.5% in the month before the print and still trades near five times forward earnings, and the consensus models tracked before results grew 2027 revenue faster than earnings, which is margin normalization built in 7. The scarcity record argues back: Samsung's high-capacity server DDR5 lead times stretch to 52 weeks, China's CXMT lifted its DRAM revenue share to 9.5%, and SK hynix chief executive Kwak Noh-jung has called 2027 memory's worst supply year on record 68.
Samsung reports tomorrow
Samsung+4.23% — Samsung, up 4.23 percent today guided third-quarter operating profit near 107.4 trillion won and publishes its division split on October 29 9. Read one line against the other: the memory division's record profit beside a phone unit tracked toward an operating loss above $1 billion on the same chip prices 9. The duopoly now sells scarcity to the data centers and buys it back inside its own phones.
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