AI boom to bring world-first profit for Samsung unit
Oct 8, 2026
Samsung Electronics on Thursday projected its quarterly profit would top 100 trillion won, a world first for a technology company, estimating a nearly nine-fold jump in third-quarter earnings as booming demand for AI chips drove strong memory sales.
The world's largest memory chipmaker estimated an operating profit of 107.4 trillion won, or US$80.17 billion, slightly ahead of an LSEG SmartEstimate of 106.1 trillion won.
The forecast marks Samsung's fourth straight quarter of record operating profit, underscoring a deepening global memory chip shortage as AI infrastructure investment outpaces supply growth, which has driven chip prices up sharply.
Samsung and Micron expect the imbalance to persist into 2028, although Chinese competition and a potential slowdown in AI spending pose risks to the longer-term earnings outlook.
Samsung's shares moved sideways despite flagging another record profit, slipping 0.2 percent in early trade versus a 0.5 percent fall in the benchmark Kospi.
Its share price has slumped more than 25 percent from a record high in June amid concerns about the durability of the AI boom.
Analysts have also recently trimmed their forecasts due to the sharp appreciation of the won, which reduces the value of dollar-denominated overseas sales when converted into local currency.
"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 at Mirae Asset Securities said.
Analysts expect profit in the fourth quarter to grow 8.2 percent from the previous quarter, slowing from 20 percent sequential quarterly growth in the third quarter, with chip price growth abating.
Market research firm TrendForce expects conventional Dram contract prices to rise 10 percent to 15 percent in the fourth quarter from the preceding quarter, much slower than a second-quarter surge of roughly 60 percent.
The moderation in memory prices is being closely watched by investors after a more than year-long rally that propelled profit margins to record highs for the world's largest memory producers Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron.
Third-quarter revenue would likely rise 127 percent to 195 trillion won from a year earlier, Samsung said.
The company will release detailed results, including a breakdown of earnings by business division, on October 29.
TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, reported on Thursday record third-quarter revenue of US$46.71 billion, beating the market forecast and rising 50 percent from the year-earlier period due to surging demand for AI applications. (Reuters)
Edited by Tony Sabine
