SK Hynix posts smaller-than-expected profit fall on strong server demand

SEOUL (Reuters) – SK Hynix <000660.KS>, the world’s No.2 memory chip maker, posted a 41% fall in quarterly operating profit on Thursday, but beat analysts’ estimates as the virus-driven shift to working from home offset weak smartphone demand.

South Korea’s SK Hynix, which counts Apple Inc and Huawei Technologies [HWT.UL] among its customers, reported an operating profit of 800 billion won ($649 million) in the January to March period, compared with a Refinitiv SmartEstimate of 474 billion won.

First-quarter revenue rose 6% to 7.2 trillion won.

($1 = 1,232.3300 won)

(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Joyce Lee; Editing by Kim Coghill)