SK hynix has ended a protracted downturn after posting record-high sales and higher-than-expected operating profit during the first quarter on the back of rising global demand for high bandwidth memory(HBM) used in artificial intelligence(AI) computing.

According to estimates by the world's second-largest memory chipmaker on Thursday, it posted an operating profit of around two-point-89 trillion won, or some two-point-one billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter, a turnabout from an operating loss of three-point-four trillion won a year earlier.

Sales expanded 144-point-three percent on-year to 12-point-43 trillion won, a record high for the January-to-March period. Its net profit came to some one-point-92 trillion won.

SK hynix attributed the first-quarter turnabout to robust sales of its premium products for AI, including HBM chips, and increased demand for NAND flash memory chips.

The company expects demand for AI memory to continuously grow and demand for the conventional DRAM to recover from the year's second half.