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SK Hynix Inc. signage at the company’s office in Seongnam, South Korea, on Monday, April 22, 2024. SK Hynix is scheduled to release earnings figures on April 25. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

South Korea’s SK Hynix, one of the largest memory chipmakers in the world, posted record quarterly earnings on Thursday, supported by strong sales of high bandwidth memory (HBM) used in generative AI.

Here are SK Hynix’s fourth-quarter results compared with LSEG SmartEstimate, which is weighted toward forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate:

  • Revenue: 19.77 trillion won ($13.7 billion) vs. 19.91 trillion won
  • Operating profit: 8.08 trillion won ($5.6 billion) vs. 8.02 trillion won

Operating profit in the October-December quarter grew 15% since the previous quarter to another record-high, as did revenue, which rose 12%. 

The chipmaker has benefitted from a boom in artificial intelligence servers and is a key supplier to U.S. chip designer Nvidia.

“SK Hynix emphasized that with prolonged strong demand for AI memory, the company achieved [an] all-time high result through world-leading HBM technology and profitability-oriented operation,” the company said in its earnings release

HBM is a type of dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, in which chips are vertically stacked to save space and reduce power consumption. The technology is often used in products such as laptops and PCs. 

SK Hynix, Micron Technology and Samsung Electronics are the three top manufacturers of HBM chips.

The strong fourth-quarter numbers conclude a year that saw the company reach record yearly revenue, exceeding the previous high in 2022 by over 21 trillion won. Meanwhile, operating profit, beat a record set in 2018 during a “super boom” in the semiconductor industry.

Correction: This article has been revised to reflect updated quarter-on-quarter growth data after SK Hynix amended its press release.

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Chinese tech giant Tencent posts 13% revenue jump as growth at key gaming unit surges

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Chinese tech giant Tencent posts 13% revenue jump as growth at key gaming unit surges

Chinese tech company Tencent is a gaming giant and the parent company of WeChat, the ubiquitous social messaging app in China.

Cheng Xin | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Tencent on Wednesday reported an annual rise in its top and bottom line in the first quarter fuelled by accelerated growth in its key gaming business.

While revenue beat expectations, its net profit fell short.

Here’s how Tencent did in the first quarter of 2025 versus LSEG estimates:

  • Revenue: 180.02 billion Chinese yuan ($25 billion), versus 174.63 billion yuan expected
  • Net profit: 47.8 billion yuan, versus 52.2 billion yuan expected

Revenue rose 13% year-on-year, while net profit was up 14%.

This breaking news story is being updated.

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Sony shares rise about 2% in volatile trading following share buyback announcement

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Sony shares rise about 2% in volatile trading following share buyback announcement

A file photo of Hiroki Totoki, Sony Group Corporation executive, delivering a keynote address at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, on January 6, 2025. 

Artur Widak | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Sony Group shares rose about 2% Wednesday in volatile trading after the Japanese conglomerate announced a 250 billion yen ($1.7 billion) share buyback and operating income beat estimates.   

Operating income for the last three months of the financial year came in at 203.6 billion yen, beating mean analyst estimates of 192.2 billion yen, though it was down 11% from the same period last year. 

In the earnings report, the Japanese-based electronics, entertainment and finance company announced a stock buyback of shares worth 250 billion yen. 

Sony also provided details on a partial spinoff of its financial unit. The company plans to distribute slightly more than 80% of the shares of common stock of the spinoff to shareholders of Sony Group through dividends. 

The financial unit will list its financial operation this year and will be classified as a discontinued operation in Sony’s accounting from the current quarter, the company added. 

However, Sony’s outlook for the current financial year ending in March was lackluster.

The company forecasted its operating profit to rise a slight 0.3% to 1.28 trillion yen, after flagging a 100 billion yen hit from U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war.

Yet, Sony clarified that the estimated tariff impact did not reflect the trade deal made between the U.S. and China on May 12 and that the actual impact could vary significantly. 

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Samsung Electronics to acquire heating and cooling solutions provider FläktGroup for 1.5 billion euros

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Samsung Electronics to acquire heating and cooling solutions provider FläktGroup for 1.5 billion euros

A Samsung Group flag flutters in front of the company’s Seocho building in Seoul. 

Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Samsung Electronics on Wednesday announced that it would acquire all shares of German-based FläktGroup, a leading heating and cooling solutions provider, for 1.5 billion euros ($1.68 billion) from European investment firm Triton. 

Samsung said the acquisition would help it expand in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning business as the market experiences rapid growth. 

“Our commitment is to continue investing in and developing the high-growth HVAC business as a key future growth engine,” said TM Roh, Acting Head of the Device eXperience (DX) Division at Samsung Electronics.  

The acquisition of FläktGroup stands to bolster Samsung’s position in the HVAC market against rivals such as LG Electronics. 

FläktGroup supplies heating, HVAC solutions to a wide range of buildings and facilities, notably data centers which require a high degree of stable cooling. Samsung said it anticipates sustained growth in data center demand due to the proliferation of generative AI, robotics, autonomous driving and other technologies.

FläktGroup has more 60 major customers, including leading pharmaceutical companies, biotech and food and beverage firms, and gigafactories, according to Samsung’s statement.

Samsung said in March that its HVAC solutions had achieved double-digit annual revenue growth over the past five years, and that the company aimed to boost revenue by more than 30% in 2025.

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