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.

Microsoft‘s head of business development Chris Young, who helped orchestrate the software giant’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, is resigning from his post after about four years on the job, the company said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday. No successor was named.

Young joined Microsoft in 2020 after almost three years as CEO of McAfee, where he ran the effort to separate the company from Intel. Previously, he held executive positions at Cisco and RSA.

At Microsoft, Young sat on the company’s senior leadership team alongside CEO Satya Nadella and finance chief Amy Hood. He reported to Nadella. As one of the highest paid Microsoft employees, Young received $12 million in total compensation in the 2024 fiscal year, according to a filing.

Young’s organization included the M12 corporate venture capital unit, which has invested in startups like Innovaccer, Outreach, PsiQuantum, Skedulo and Typeface. In 2023, M12 said that going forward, it would work more closely with Microsoft to better assist portfolio companies.

Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of video game publisher Activision, its largest deal ever, closed in 2023. Young also played a role in Microsoft’s expansion of its partnership with artificial intelligence startup OpenAI and its ad deal with Netflix.

Young, one of the most prominent Black executives at Microsoft, “provided thought leadership on the importance of diversity and inclusion in the technology industry,” the company said in a 2023 filing.

While Microsoft hasn’t made any recent comments about its diversity, equity and inclusion programs, there has been a broader industry rollback since President Donald Trump’s reelection in November. Amazon said it’s halting some of its DEI programs, and Meta’s are being canceled.

In December, Microsoft’s chief diversity officer said the company’s work in the area was “more important than ever.”

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Electronic Arts slashed its full-year bookings guidance on Wednesday, blaming the shortfall on underperforming games, notably its soccer franchise, EA Sports FC. The shares dropped 7% in extended trading.

For the fiscal third quarter, which ended Dec. 31, EA said it expects to report about $2.215 billion in net bookings, versus previous guidance of $2.4 billion to $2.55 billion.

Revenue in the December quarter will be about $1.88 billion, with $1.11 in diluted earnings per share, the company said in a statement.

EA said it expects net bookings for the full fiscal year, ending March 31, of between $7 billion and $7.15 billion, below previous guidance of $7.5 billion to $7.8 billion. EA says net bookings include physical game sales as well as revenue from online games.

The warning reveals weakness in the most prominent soccer video game franchise since 1993. It used to fall under the FIFA branding, but in 2022 EA’s deal with FIFA ended and the last two EA soccer games have been sold as EA Sports FC.

The company also said that “Dragon Age,” a role-playing game for game consoles such as Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox, had 1.5 million players during the quarter, which underperformed the company’s expectations by nearly 50%.

“During Q3, we continued to deliver high-quality games and experiences across our portfolio,” EA CEO Andrew Wilson said in the statement. “However, Dragon Age and EA SPORTS FC 25 underperformed our net bookings expectations.”

EA said that while its soccer franchise, which it calls Global Football, had seen two years of double-digit growth in net booking, it started to see a slowdown during the December quarter. The company said that it expects Global Football sales to be down on a year-over-year basis, and said that bookings from online sales, or live services, would also decline in fiscal 2025. The company’s soccer franchise, accounted for the majority of the live services shortfall.

EA said that recently updated FC 25 with new content, improved gameplay, and an annual “Team of the Year” update, which it says was well-received by players.

The warning comes weeks ahead of EA’s planned third-quarter earnings on Feb. 4.