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SK hynix CEO says company on track but warns of rising uncertainties in 2nd half of the year

Published: 11 Jun. 2025, 11:09 Updated: 11 Jun. 2025, 14:42

The SK Hynix headquarters in Icheon, Gyeonggi [YONHAP]

The head of SK hynix said the Korean chipmaker is on track to meet its business targets for the year but warned that uncertainties are likely to grow in the second half due to evolving U.S. trade policies, industry sources said Wednesday.

In a meeting with employees Tuesday, SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung said it remains difficult to forecast full-year earnings but noted that the company's performance so far has been in line with its annual goals, according to the sources.

He urged employees to work together to meet this year's targets, though he did not provide specific details.

Kwak cautioned that the global business environment could face heightened volatility in the second half of the year, citing potential U.S. tariffs on individual semiconductor products.

In April, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the implementation of long-promised reciprocal tariffs on imports from countries with trade surpluses with the United States, including a 10 percent baseline duty on all imports. Korean products were subject to a 25 percent reciprocal tariff.

While certain sectors, including automobiles, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, were exempted from the reciprocal tariffs, they remain subject to existing or upcoming sector-specific duties.

For major Korean exporters, the shifting and unpredictable nature of U.S. trade policy has created significant strategic challenges.

Despite the external headwinds, SK hynix said its semiconductor division is expected to post solid earnings in the second half, driven by continued strong demand for high bandwidth memory and dynamic random access memory products.

SK hynix is a key supplier of advanced HBM3E chips to Nvidia. The company has also provided samples of its next-generation HBM4, which is scheduled for mass production in the second half of the year.

Yonhap