*

Q2 operating profit up 69% to 9.2 trillion won

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Revenue up 35% to 22.2 trillion won

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Shares of SK Hynix ( HXSCF ) are up 55% so far this year

(Adds share reaction, comments from press conference,

background)

By Heekyong Yang and Joyce Lee

SEOUL, July 24 (Reuters) - SK Hynix ( HXSCF ) flagged

plans to boost spending this year after posting on Thursday a

record quarterly profit, as the Nvidia ( NVDA ) supplier seeks

to alleviate investor concerns about slowing growth for

artificial intelligence chipsets.

The South Korean chipmaker said demand growth would be

driven by new model launches by customers and that it was on

track to double high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chip sales for the

full year compared to 2024.

Its shares climbed more than 3% in early trade, compared to

the 0.8% rise in the benchmark South Korean KOSPI index

Hynix ( HXSCF ) did not quantify its new investment plan for 2025. Ryu

Young-ho, a senior analyst at NH Investment & Securities, said

its proactive response to customer demand for next year appeared

to reflect its confidence, as it faces major competition from

Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF ).

At an earnings conference, SK Hynix ( HXSCF ) also said it was in

talks with a major customer regarding sales next year which are

"proceeding as planned". It did not elaborate.

In March, SK Hynix ( HXSCF ) said it planned to finalise sales with

customers for 2026 within the first half of this year.

"SK Hynix ( HXSCF ) foresees that increasing competition among big

tech companies to enhance inference of AI models would lead to

higher demand for high-performance and high-capacity memory

products," it said in a statement.

Chaotic U.S. policy and turbulence over tariffs have

overshadowed the outlook for many companies, and SK Hynix ( HXSCF ) said

its earnings were helped by demand from customers to increase

inventory ahead of potential tariffs.

Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened

to soon introduce tariffs on semiconductors. SK Hynix ( HXSCF ) said in

April that the proportion of its exports to the United States

was not high, but analysts said the company could face pricing

pressure from customers squeezed by U.S. tariffs.

A much-anticipated meeting between U.S. and South Korean

officials scheduled for Friday to discuss tariffs was cancelled.

Hopes for a deal had risen after Japan and the United States

reached a deal on tariffs this week.

Hynix ( HXSCF ) reported a 9.2 trillion won ($6.69 billion) operating

profit for the April-June period, up 69% from 5.5 trillion won a

year earlier.

That compared with a 9.0 trillion won average forecast by

LSEG SmartEstimate, which is weighted toward analysts who are

more consistently accurate. Revenue rose 35% to 22.2 trillion

won during the quarter.

HYNIX VS SAMSUNG

Its profit is double the quarterly operating profit expected

by crosstown rival Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF ), which this month

projected a worse-than-expected 56% plunge in second-quarter

operating profit due to weak AI chip sales.

SK Hynix ( HXSCF ) overtook Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF ) as the world's top

memory chipmaker in the first quarter due to its leadership in

HBM chips, a crucial component of AI chipsets designed by the

likes of Nvidia ( NVDA ) that assist the processing of vast amounts of

data to train AI models.

After posting a series of record profits boosted by strong

AI demand, SK Hynix ( HXSCF ) is bracing for potential U.S. tariffs and

rising competition from rivals in supplying advanced chips to

Nvidia ( NVDA ), analysts say.

Last Thursday, SK Hynix ( HXSCF ) saw its shares close about 9% lower

after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to "neutral", expecting

HBM prices would decline for the first time next year.

Shares of SK Hynix ( HXSCF ) are up 54.7% so far this year,

outperforming the KOSPI's 32.7% rise.

($1 = 1,374.5800 won)

(Reporting by Heekyong Yang and Joyce Lee and Hyunjoo Jin;

Editing by Jamie Freed, Lincoln Feast and Muralikumar

Anantharaman)