South Korea’s SK Hynix Inc. reported record earnings and revenue in the fourth quarter that beat market expectations as supply remained short against ever-expanding demand for memory to fuel big data, digitalization, and smart applications.

The world’s second largest memory chip maker said in its regulatory filing on Thursday it posted 4.47 trillion won ($4.2 billion) in operating profit in the fourth quarter, up 19.5 percent on quarter and 190.7 percent on year, with the ratio of profit raised against revenue nearing 49 percent.

Sales totaled 9.03 trillion won, up 11.5 percent on quarter and 68.5 percent on year. Net profit stood at 3.22 trillion won, up 5.4 percent on quarter and 97.7 percent on year.

Shares of SK Hynix ended Thursday up 4.7 percent at 75,800 won.

For the full 2017, operating profit surged 319 percent on year to hit an all-time high of 13.7 trillion won. Sales were up 75 percent at 30.1 trillion won. Net profit also soared 260 percent to 10.6 trillion won. Average operating profit rate throughout the year for the chipmaker, whose mainstay dynamic random memory (DRAM) chips are cheaper to produce, was 46 percent.

The record performance was led by explosive demand for memory chips used to power servers and mobile products with tight supply continuing to drive up prices.

DRAM shipments in the fourth quarter gained 3 percent on quarter while the average selling price rose 9 percent. NAND flash memory shipments also jumped 16 percent on quarter while prices rose 4 percent.

SK Hynix forecast that demand for DRAM chips would remain strong this year as data centers require more servers. NAND flash chips would also enjoy solid growth spurred by increased appetite for solid state drives and high-performance smartphones.

By Hwang Hyung-gyu and Kim Hyo-jin

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