Odaily Planet Daily reports that Citrini analyst jukan posted on the X platform stating that KIS Semicon analyst Minsook Chae expects SK Hynix’s operating profit in Q2 2026 to be 60.4 trillion won, up 61% quarter-on-quarter and up 556% year-on-year. This figure is 8% below the market consensus of 65 trillion won.

The analyst said the downward revision is mainly due to SK Hynix’s higher-than-peer share of HBM sales, the lower-than-previously expected price increases for standard DRAM, and long-term supply agreements (LTA) which are expected to stabilize ASP (average selling price). The analyst lowered the Q2 2026 forecast for the quarter-on-quarter growth rate of DRAM’s overall ASP to 28.9% from 50.0%, and lowered the growth rate forecast for commodity DRAM ASP to 34.2% from 60.6%. With the formal mass production of HBM4 starting in Q3 2026, the overall ASP growth rate is expected to return to around the market’s average quarter-on-quarter level of about 10%.

However, the analyst believes that this adjustment is not a signal of a downturn in the industry. The expected adjustment in the near term is a more realistic reflection of the 3- to 5-year LTA structure, and is expected to lead to more stable long-term earnings growth. For fiscal years 2026 to 2028, the year-over-year growth rates of operating profit are expected to be 419%, 53%, and 19%, respectively.