Samsung Expects Operating Profit to Exceed $80 Billion For First Time

Samsung 005930 -0.65%decrease; red down pointing triangle Electronics expects quarterly operating profit to exceed $80 billion for the first time, putting the world’s largest memory-chip maker on track to extend its run of record earnings.

The staggering preliminary estimate—more than twice what Samsung made for the whole of 2025—comes as it remains a key beneficiary of global demand for advanced chips as companies invest heavily in AI infrastructure and applications.

Most analysts and semiconductor executives expect tight memory supply to persist over the next few years, keeping chip prices elevated. Samsung’s preliminary results Thursday reinforced the upbeat industry outlook.

Operating profit for the three months ended September likely surged nearly ninefold from a year earlier to 107.4 trillion won, equivalent to $80.18 billion, the company said.

The feat would make Samsung the first South Korean company to top 100 trillion won in quarterly operating profit. Samsung said it was the first major global technology company to cross the mark.

The projected figure surpassed Samsung’s previous record of about 89 trillion won set in the second quarter and largely met market expectations for the third quarter.

Quarterly revenue was also expected to hit a record, with the company projecting a more than doubling of the top line to 195 trillion won. Analysts’ estimates were for 206.810 trillion won, according to a FactSet-compiled consensus.

The company doesn’t typically provide segment breakdowns for preliminary results, but most analysts expect its semiconductor division to have driven strong quarterly earnings, offsetting weakness in home appliances, mobile devices and other nonchip businesses.

The memory boom is a double-edged sword for Samsung: Higher chip prices benefit its semiconductor business but squeeze margins in other electronics businesses by raising component costs.

The South Korean tech titan, like many other local exporters whose overseas earnings are converted into won, is also exposed to foreign-exchange volatility.

Analysts at Nomura said Samsung’s operating profit would have been even higher without the won’s sharp appreciation against the dollar. Nomura estimates a 10% won gain could reduce Korean chip makers’ profits by 12%. The won has strengthened about 12% against the dollar over the past three months, FactSet data showed.

The company’s stock was nearly flat early Thursday amid investor caution, fluctuating between small gains and losses after the results.

Still, shares have tripled over the past year, though concerns about the sustainability of the AI investment boom have recently damped investor sentiment. Despite losing nearly a fifth of its value over the past three months, the stock remains up about 120% in 2026.

Samsung has said it expects memory-chip shortages to worsen in 2027 and persist into 2028. KB Securities analysts led by Jeff Kim said Samsung’s rapid shift to high-bandwidth memory, a specialized type of advanced memory needed for AI chips, could squeeze supplies of general-purpose memory chips. They expect the company’s most advanced HBM4 products to account for about 80% of Samsung’s revenue next year, up from 40% this year.

As profit surges, investors are turning their attention to Samsung’s shareholder-return policy. The company has already approved 30 trillion won in third-quarter dividends and a 15 trillion won share buyback for employee compensation, with further details on shareholder returns to come. Samsung estimates its 2026 shareholder returns at 90 trillion won to 110 trillion won.

The company is scheduled to release full quarterly results later this month.