[News] Booming AI Demand Boosts Q2 Profit for South Korea’s Top 500 Companies to Double

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As global tech giants race to develop AI infrastructure, according to a report from Yonhap News Agency, South Korea’s top 500 companies, driven by semiconductor leaders like Samsung and SK Hynix, have experienced a significant profit surge in the second quarter, more than doubling compared to the same period last year.

Reportedly, as per data released by the corporate evaluation website CEO Score on August 15th, among South Korea’s top 500 companies by revenue, 334 companies have reported their second-quarter earnings as of August 14th.

The combined net profit of these companies reached KRW 59.4 trillion (approximately USD 43.6 billion), marking a 107.1% increase compared to the KRW 28.7 trillion recorded during the same period last year, with their profits more than doubling year-over-year.

Their revenue in total, on the other hand, amounted to KRW 779.5 trillion, reflecting a 7% year-on-year growth from KRW 728.6 trillion during the same period last year.

This significant growth was driven by the booming HBM demand from tech giants like NVIDIA, the report notes.

According to the Q2 performance report released by Samsung Electronics, the company’s operating profit reached KRW 10.44 trillion (approximately USD 7.5 billion), surging from the KRW 668.5 billion recorded in the same period last year.

Thus, per the report, this surge has solidified Samsung’s position as the most profitable company among South Korea’s top 500 enterprises in the second quarter.

On the other hand, SK Hynix also turned a profit in the second quarter, recovering from a loss of KRW 2.9 trillion  in the same period last year, with an operating profit of KRW 5.5 trillion.

Reportedly, this strong performance helped SK Hynix to become South Korea’s second most profitable company, surpassing automotive giants Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp., which reported operating profits of KRW 4.3 trillion and KRW3.6 trillion in Q2,  respectively.

Meanwhile, SK On, the battery manufacturing arm of SK Group, recorded an operating loss of KRW 460.2 billion in the second quarter, marking the worst quarterly performance in the company’s history, dragged down by the global cooling demand for electric vehicles.

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(Photo credit: Samsung)