The move marks the first time Moody’s has placed SK Hynix in the A category, citing stronger AI memory competitiveness, profitability and cash generation.
Moody’s has upgraded SK Hynix’s long-term issuer rating and senior unsecured ratings to A3 from Baa1, with a stable outlook, marking the first time the company has received an A-range rating from Moody’s since joining SK Group in 2012. Moody’s said the upgrade reflects stronger competitiveness in the artificial intelligence memory market as well as improved profitability and cash generation. The agency expects SK Hynix to sustain high earnings and cash generation over the next 12 to 18 months, further strengthening its financial profile, and said the company has built sufficient cash reserves to better withstand a downturn in the semiconductor cycle. The action also makes Moody’s the first of the three major international rating firms to assign SK Hynix an A-range rating. S&P and Fitch currently rate the company BBB+, with S&P’s outlook positive and Fitch’s stable. SK Hynix is a major producer of DRAM, NAND flash and HBM, or high-bandwidth memory, a crucial component in AI accelerators and the data centers that support large language models and other AI workloads.