SEOUL, July 26 (Reuters) - South Korea's SK Hynix (000660.KS) on Wednesday posted a worse-than-expected quarterly operating loss on weak memory chip pricing and demand, but said the market was beginning to recover from a deep downturn.
In particular, memory chip demand from corporate buyers and gaming personal computers is expected to increase in the second half of the year versus the first, the world's second-biggest memory chip maker said in a statement.
This compared with expectations for a 2.7 trillion won operating loss, according to 22 analyst views compiled by Refinitiv SmartEstimate, weighted toward analysts that are more consistently accurate.
SK Hynix has reported losses each quarter since the fourth quarter of 2022, although the June quarter loss narrowed from a record of 3.4 trillion won loss in the March quarter.
A boom in artificial intelligence, however, helped SK Hynix boost sales of high-end DRAM chips in the second quarter and narrow losses from the previous quarter.
Persons:
Refinitiv SmartEstimate, 1,274.1300, Joyce Lee, Heekyong Yang, Christopher Cushing, Jamie Freed
Organizations:
Korea's SK Hynix, SK Hynix, Revenue, Thomson
Locations:
SEOUL