SK Telecom’s Q3 2026 operating profit exceeded its Q3 2024 level, set before a 2025 cybersecurity incident, but revenue remained lower, underscoring an incomplete financial recovery.
In results announced Nov. 4, the South Korean carrier reported 552.3 billion won in operating profit and 4.4973 trillion won in revenue for July through September. The comparable 2024 quarter had 533.3 billion won in operating profit and 4.5321 trillion won in revenue. The company cautioned that its Q3 2026 numbers have not completed audit review and may be revised.
Operating profit advanced 1,040.3% from 48.4 billion won in Q3 2025, a quarter in which SK Telecom attributed the operating-profit decline to the rollout of a customer benefit package. The offer halved customers’ August 2025 bills and provided extra data between August and December 2025. Net profit was 411.8 billion won, compared with a 166.7 billion won loss in the year-earlier quarter.
Against Q2 2026, operating profit was down 2.4%, while revenue was up 3.2%. Mobile service revenue reached 2.5697 trillion won, 21.6% higher year over year; SK Telecom’s investor briefing said the prior-year package affected that comparison. Fixed-line revenue rose 7.4% from a year earlier, with an increase in broadband subscribers among the factors cited.
AI data center revenue stood at 126.1 billion won in Q3, down 7.4% from Q2. SK Telecom said the drop partly reflected a gap in GPU service revenue as it moved customers to longer-term contracts. SK Telecom and SK Broadband together recorded 461.4 billion won of quarterly capital expenditure, while SK Hyper separately spent 148.6 billion won on data center development. SK Horizon is developing data center projects in Ulsan and Seoul planned to provide about 180 megawatts of capacity. SK Hyper remains in talks with prospective customers, mainly for Ulsan, and development is to advance once agreements are finalized.
The company declared a third-quarter dividend of 830 won per share, with Nov. 30, 2026, set as the record date.
