SEOUL, July 24 (Reuters) - South Korea's SK Hynix ( HXSCF )

posted on Thursday a record quarterly profit, driven

by strong demand for advanced chips used in generative

artificial intelligence chipsets and as some customers

stockpiled semiconductors ahead of potential U.S. tariffs.

"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.

The Nvidia ( NVDA ) supplier expects to double

high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chip sales for the full year

compared to 2024, the company said.

SK Hynix ( HXSCF ) overtook Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF ) as the

world's top memory chip maker 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.

SK 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.

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.

($1 = 1,374.5800 won)