SK Telecom's Q3 Operating Profit Surges More Than Tenfold Year on Year, Driven by AI Businesses

South Korean mobile carrier SK Telecom said on Wednesday that its operating profit in the third quarter jumped 1,041.3% from a year earlier, while net profit also swung to a profit from a loss over the same period. From July to September, the company posted an operating profit of 552.3 billion won (about $411.4 million), and revenue rose 13.1% year on year to 4.49 trillion won. Net profit was 411.8 billion won, compared with a loss of 166.7 billion won a year earlier. SK Telecom said steady growth in its core mobile services business and the rise of new artificial intelligence (AI)-related businesses helped boost its performance this quarter. The company said sales from its AI data center business rose 6.2% year on year, while sales from its other AI-related businesses grew 27.3% from a year earlier.