SEOUL, Jan 28 (Reuters) - South Korea's SK Hynix said on Wednesday that quarterly profit more than doubled to a record, comfortably beating forecasts on relentless demand for artificial intelligence that has lifted prices for both advanced and conventional memory chips. The Nvidia supplier logged a 137% surge in operating profit to 19.2 trillion won ($13.5 billion) for the fourth quarter, accor...
SEOUL, Jan 28 (Reuters) - South Korea's SK Hynix said on Wednesday that quarterly profit more than doubled to a record, comfortably beating forecasts on relentless demand for artificial intelligence that has lifted prices for both advanced and conventional memory chips. The Nvidia supplier logged a 137% surge in operating profit to 19.2 trillion won ($13.5 billion) for the fourth quarter, according to Reuters calculations. That compared with 8.1 trillion won a year earlier and a 17.7 trillion won consensus prediction from LSEG SmartEstimate, which is weighted toward analysts with a more consistent track record. SK Hynix will hold a briefing on its fourth-quarter earnings results on Thursday. SK Hynix has managed to carve out an enviable lead in high bandwidth memory (HBM) used in artificial intelligence chipsets designed by the likes of Nvidia, commanding a 61% share of the HBM market, according to Macquarie Equity Research. It is also benefiting as tight supply and rising AI demand push up prices for commodity DRAM and NAND chips used in servers, personal computers and mobile devices. For example, contract prices for 16 gigabyte DDR5, a popular type of DRAM chip, more than quadrupled last quarter from a year earlier, according to market tracker TrendForce. TrendForce expects conventional DRAM contract prices to rise a further 55% to 60% in the current quarter from the previous one. ($1 = 1,422.2400 won) (Reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by Miyoung Kim and Edwina Gibbs)
SK Hynix Inc. reported its strongest quarterly results to date, underscoring the depth of an artificial intelligence wave that’s triggered an unprecedented surge in memory demand. Operating profit more than doubled to 19.2 trillion won ($13.5 billion) in the December quarter, beating the 16.7 trillion won average of analysts estimates . Revenue climbed to 32.8 trillion won. Its Korean shares were ...
SK Hynix Inc. reported its strongest quarterly results to date, underscoring the depth of an artificial intelligence wave that’s triggered an unprecedented surge in memory demand. Operating profit more than doubled to 19.2 trillion won ($13.5 billion) in the December quarter, beating the 16.7 trillion won average of analysts estimates . Revenue climbed to 32.8 trillion won. Its Korean shares were up more than 6% in extended trading. Once defined by sharp boom-and-bust cycles, the memory business is now delivering consistent profits that would have been improbable just a few years ago, lifting valuations across the sector. Shares in SK Hynix, the leading supplier of high-bandwidth memory or HBM for Nvidia Corp. ’s AI accelerators, have roughly tripled since the start of September. Samsung Electronics Co. , which is trying to catch up with its smaller rival in the market, is slated to report full quarterly results on Thursday. On Wednesday, SK Hynix also disclosed plans to cancel about $8.6 billion worth of shares held in its treasury next month as part of broader efforts to boost shareholder returns. And it reiterated it’s considering a US listing , though had made no decision on that front. Top executives are slated to address analysts on a conference call Thursday morning, just as Samsung unveils its own numbers. SK Hynix’s strong performance reflects the extent of demand for HBM3E, the current cutting-edge version used by Nvidia and major cloud operators. The Korean firm is the exclusive supplier of HBM3E for Microsoft Corp. ’s custom AI accelerator, the Maia 200, according to a South Korean media report . Both Korean chipmakers are now vying for certification to sell next-gen HBM4 to the world’s most valuable company. Read More: Samsung, SK Hynix Results to Showcase Fight for AI Memory Crown What Bloomberg Intelligence Says SK Hynix is well positioned to extend its leadership in the high-bandwidth memory market — which is projected to expand at a compounded annua...
Hong Kong authorities will launch a pilot scheme to test firefighting drones, with the aim of deploying the equipment in operations once the technology has matured, the security minister has said. Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung made the remarks on Wednesday while answering lawmakers’ questions on fire safety in the Legislative Council, following the Tai Po blaze in November, that cla...
Hong Kong authorities will launch a pilot scheme to test firefighting drones, with the aim of deploying the equipment in operations once the technology has matured, the security minister has said. Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung made the remarks on Wednesday while answering lawmakers’ questions on fire safety in the Legislative Council, following the Tai Po blaze in November, that claimed 168 lives. Tang said drones in Hong Kong are used only to analyse fire scenes, while mainland China had not yet officially deployed them for firefighting, pending further technological development. Advertisement “Mainland China has a pilot scheme [on firefighting drones]. With reference to mainland experience, we will introduce a pilot scheme and see if it can be applied in Hong Kong,” he said in response to one of the inquiries. Tang later supplemented his reply in a written response to another inquiry, noting that firefighting drones were still in the experimental stage on the mainland and in Hong Kong and were not yet suitable for real fire scenes. Advertisement He said the Fire Services Department was maintaining close contact with mainland authorities and drone manufacturers, while also testing drones produced by local companies. “It is hoped that once the technology has matured and been proven safe and feasible, Hong Kong will be among the first to deploy drones for firefighting operations,” he said.
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英國首有女性任坎特伯雷大主教 海外教會威脅退出聖公會 To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video 【有線新聞】英國聖公會首位女性坎特伯雷大主教穆拉莉的當選確認儀式，在倫敦聖保羅大教堂舉行。 去年10月當選第106任坎特伯雷大主教的穆拉莉出席當選確認儀式，63歲的她是聖公會1400年歷史以來首位擔任此崗位的女性，期間有人打斷儀式，被帶離會場。穆拉莉的任命已促使部分海外傳統教會威脅退出聖公會，穆拉莉稱明白外界一些人難以接受女性擔任國教領袖，她會聆聽他們的關注，同時會就女性受歧視問題發聲，穆拉莉的就任禮3月將在坎特伯里座堂舉行。
Key Points Medicare has some new rules going into effect in 2026. One of those rules will affect over 6 million seniors. A Democratic lawmaker has warned that the change could have a big negative impact on access to care. The $23,760 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook › Many seniors rely on Medicare to provide them with essential healthcare coverage. Unfortunately, over 6 mill...
Key Points Medicare has some new rules going into effect in 2026. One of those rules will affect over 6 million seniors. A Democratic lawmaker has warned that the change could have a big negative impact on access to care. The $23,760 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook › Many seniors rely on Medicare to provide them with essential healthcare coverage. Unfortunately, over 6 million of those seniors now will be impacted by a new rule that has advocates very concerned about its impact on care. Here's the rule change that's affecting Medicare beneficiaries, along with some details on why seniors may be adversely impacted by the shift. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » This change in Medicare rules has advocates worried The Medicare change taking effect in January will impact 6.4 million seniors who live in New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, and Washington state and have traditional Medicare coverage. It will not impact seniors who have a Medicare Advantage plan. Beginning this month, Medicare beneficiaries in these states will need to get prior approval for 17 different Medicare procedures. Prior approval, or preauthorization, means that the doctor requests coverage for the procedure before performing it in order for insurance to cover it. Medicare has traditionally required prior approval in very limited circumstances. In fact, in 2023, around one prior authorization review was submitted for every 100 traditional beneficiaries. However, this is changing as a result of a new pilot program that requires preauthorization for medical procedures that are often found to be wasteful. Advocates warn about the impact on patient care While the goal of requiring preauthorizations is supposedly to cut down on wasteful care, the reality is that many advocates are concerned that it's simply going to make getting essential care more difficult, even when pe...
Key Points The release of Microsoft's Maia 200 chip is a long-awaited milestone for the company in the AI chip race. Microsoft's Azure and cloud services revenues are growing rapidly. The stock is down over 2% to start 2026. 10 stocks we like better than Microsoft › Here's an AI stock that'll crush the market in 2026, and no, it's not Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA). Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is going to hav...
Key Points The release of Microsoft's Maia 200 chip is a long-awaited milestone for the company in the AI chip race. Microsoft's Azure and cloud services revenues are growing rapidly. The stock is down over 2% to start 2026. 10 stocks we like better than Microsoft › Here's an AI stock that'll crush the market in 2026, and no, it's not Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA). Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is going to have the best year among the AI leaders. Why is that? Because on Jan. 26, the software company revealed its long-awaited Maia 200 chip. This is Microsoft's second-generation in-house chip that's used for artificial intelligence (AI) inference. Inference is the "doing" stage of AI, where trained AI models move into solving real problems. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now, when you join Stock Advisor. See the stocks » Microsoft's Maia 200 is ready to compete Microsoft lagged behind its competitors in designing its own AI chips. This release marks an important milestone in the AI race between the tech industry's giants. The Maia 200 chip is built on Taiwan Semiconductor's 3-nanometer process. Maia 200 will directly compete with Nvidia's inference GPUs as well as Amazon's Trainium and Alphabet's Google TPU. Microsoft says Maia 200 has 30% better performance than its competitors for the same price. This bang-for-the-buck advantage is significant as price sensitivity grows in the sector. Microsoft's AI team will be the first to use Maia 200, but wider availability is expected to roll out in the near future. Microsoft's deployment of Maia 200 reduces its reliance on third parties. As the company rolls out the chip to a wider audience, it will also generate new revenue, including its availability for rent for Azure cloud customers. Maia 200's predecessor was not available to rent. Microsoft's stock is down a little over 2% to start 2026. The software company's forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio...
dndavis/iStock via Getty Images Overview The abrdn Life Sciences Investors Fund ( HQL ) is structured as a closed-end fund that aims to provide attractive total returns through a portfolio of healthcare securities. What differentiates HQL from standard ETFs is the specific focus on income generation. When I previously covered HQL, I issued a buy rating due to the attractive valuation at the time. ...
dndavis/iStock via Getty Images Overview The abrdn Life Sciences Investors Fund ( HQL ) is structured as a closed-end fund that aims to provide attractive total returns through a portfolio of healthcare securities. What differentiates HQL from standard ETFs is the specific focus on income generation. When I previously covered HQL, I issued a buy rating due to the attractive valuation at the time. Since then, the fund has produced total returns that exceed the S&P 500. Since my last coverage, the fund has released an updated annual report for 2025, which prompted me to revisit the fund's overall value proposition for 2026. Looking at the performance over the last twelve months, we can see that HQL's share price has run up nearly 22.6%. The fund continues to maintain its positive momentum. When including all distributions that were paid out to shareholders, the total return jumps up to 39.2% over the same time frame. HQL now offers investors a starting dividend yield of about 11.6%. After reviewing the latest annual report, I believe the fund will be able to sustain its high rate of payouts over the next twelve months. The fund has consistently demonstrated its ability to generate earnings that outpace distributions. Data by YCharts Although I believe that HQL is positioned to continue providing attractive returns, there are some weaknesses that can be improved. For instance, the latest annual report indicates that the fund is entirely reliant on net realized gains to support NAV growth and distributions. While this is great during bull markets, it can also be a detriment to the fund's success during market declines. The fund needs to significantly improve the fund's net investment income to help reduce price volatility through different market cycles. Fund Strategy According to the latest fund overview , HQL has total assets under management of $572M that are spread across a diverse range of healthcare securities. The fund has a listed expense ratio of 1.36%, but thi...