Samsung Flags Record $80 Billion Profit as AI Chip Boom Rolls On
The world's largest memory chipmaker estimated operating profit of 107.4 trillion won for the third quarter, nearly nine times a year ago. It is the first time any tech company has topped 100 trillion won in a single quarter.
Samsung Electronics said Thursday it expects third-quarter operating profit of 107.4 trillion won, about $80 billion. The figure would be nearly nine times the 12.17 trillion won it made a year earlier.
The guidance beat the LSEG SmartEstimate of 106.1 trillion won. It also marks the company's fourth consecutive quarter of record operating profit, and the first time any technology company has topped 100 trillion won in a single quarter.
Memory chips are doing the work. Demand from AI data centers has outstripped supply for more than a year, driving up prices for conventional DRAM and NAND chips — and for high-bandwidth memory, the fast chips that feed AI systems.
Revenue will likely rise 127 percent to 195 trillion won from a year earlier, the company said. Samsung will report detailed results, including a breakdown by business division, on Oct. 29.
The market was not impressed. Shares slipped 0.2 percent in early trading, versus a 0.5 percent fall for the KOSPI index. The stock has slumped more than 25 percent since a record high in June, as investors question how long the AI boom can run.
“The market's focus has shifted to whether the sharp earnings growth that started a year ago would be sustainable,” market analyst Kim Seok-hwan of Mirae Asset Securities said.
Forecasts have come down. Analysts cut their third-quarter estimates by nearly 8 percent since late August, partly because the won has strengthened — reducing the value of dollar-denominated overseas sales when converted home.
The shortage is expected to last. Samsung and Micron see the supply imbalance persisting into 2028. Chinese competition and a possible slowdown in AI spending are the risks most often named for the longer term.
Analysts expect fourth-quarter profit to grow 8.2 percent from the third quarter, down from 20 percent sequential growth in Q3, as chip price gains slow. South Korea also unveiled a $23 billion chip support package this week as U.S. tariff uncertainty hangs over the industry.
Rising chip prices have pushed up the cost of phones and other electronics. Long-term supply deals between chipmakers and big customers have limited price gains in exchange for guaranteed supply.
