KB Securities Forecasts SK hynix Q4 2026 Operating Profit at 104 Trillion Won

KB Securities forecast Nov. 2 that SK hynix will post 104 trillion won in fourth-quarter 2026 operating profit, up 441% year over year and, if realized, its first quarterly result above 100 trillion won.

That would be about 25% above the 83.3 trillion won in operating profit SK hynix recorded in the third quarter. Revenue reached 104.6155 trillion won and operating margin was 80%. The company set quarterly records for both revenue and operating profit in its third-quarter results.

KB’s forecast assumes DRAM bit shipments will increase 24% from the prior quarter and NAND bit shipments will grow 5%. The brokerage also expects average selling prices to keep rising, with HBM4 making a larger contribution than HBM3E.

SK hynix said HBM4 entered mass production and began shipping in the third quarter. The company expects HBM4 to surpass HBM3E in fourth-quarter bit shipment volume and share of revenue. SK hynix also said HBM4 yields had begun to exceed initial targets and that it completed HBM4E customer sampling in the second quarter.

The company’s supply outlook provides further context for the forecast. SK hynix said it signed long-term supply agreements with 14 customers, including major cloud service providers. Those contracts cover more than half of the company’s planned capacity in both 2027 and 2028. SK hynix also said active purchase negotiations could bring its DRAM and HBM output through 2029 effectively to sold-out levels. It sees customer requests for HBM exceeding current supply capacity by more than two times and memory supply tightness potentially lasting through 2030.

KB projects full-year operating profit of 285 trillion won in 2026, up 504% from 2025, and 470 trillion won in 2027, a 65% increase. For 2027, the brokerage expects DRAM bit shipments to grow 25% and prices to rise 40%.

KB put SK hynix’s forward price-to-earnings ratio at about three times its projected 2027 earnings and noted that the shares had fallen 50% from their peak. Its fourth-quarter forecast is below Citi’s 107 trillion won estimate for the fiscal quarter.