SEOUL, Oct 29, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - South Korean chip giant SK hynix reported record profit in the third quarter on Wednesday, boosted by strong demand for artificial intelligence.

The world's second-largest memory chip maker dominates the market for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) semiconductors and is a key supplier for US titan Nvidia.

The company's operating profit rose 61.9 percent year-on-year to a record 11.38 trillion won ($7.9 billion), with an operating margin of 47 percent.

"The company achieved its highest-ever quarterly performance, driven by the full-scale rise in prices of DRAM and NAND, as well as the increasing shipments of high-performance products for AI servers," it said in its earnings statement, referring to processing chips and chips used for data storage.

It is the second quarter in a row that SK hynix has posted a record operating profit, which had risen almost 70 percent to then-highs of 9.2 trillion won in April-June.

The strong performance follows the company's announcement this month that it signed partnerships with AI giants including OpenAI and Broadcom to supply advanced memory chips.

"The recent wave of strategic partnerships and AI data center expansion announcements by leading global AI players provides further momentum," SK hynix said.

The company was seeing "higher-than-expected customer demand" and would aim to expand its production line and "accelerate the migration to advanced process technologies" to meet growing industry needs.

"We will continue to strengthen our AI memory leadership by responding to customer demand through market-leading products and differentiated technological capabilities," SK's Chief Financial Officer Kim Woo-hyun said in the statement.

Investors are also watching US President Donald Trump's visit to South Korea on Wednesday, in hopes of a trade deal.

Trade talks between the two have been gridlocked, particularly over proposals for South Korea to invest $350 billion in the United States in return for lowering US tariffs to 15 percent.