The Pulse
Samsung Guides to ₩107.4T Quarterly Operating Profit on AI Memory
Samsung Electronics estimates third-quarter 2026 operating profit at ₩107.4 trillion, its first quarter above ₩100 trillion. The guidance gives no business breakdown; analysts credit memory chips, while higher chip costs are estimated to ha
AI.info Team · Written with AI ·
Samsung Electronics estimates third-quarter operating profit at ₩107.4 trillion, its first quarter above ₩100 trillion. Analysts attribute the jump to memory chips, as demand from artificial-intelligence infrastructure lifts sales and prices. The company’s October 8 guidance puts revenue at about ₩195 trillion for July through September. Both figures are preliminary estimates, not final results.
The operating-profit estimate represents a 782.5% increase from the ₩12.17 trillion recorded a year earlier and a 20% rise from the previous quarter’s ₩89.49 trillion. Revenue is up about 127% year over year and 14% quarter over quarter, based on the comparison figures Samsung published with the guidance. The company’s published estimate ranges are ₩194 trillion to ₩196 trillion for sales and ₩107.3 trillion to ₩107.5 trillion for operating profit. The guidance explains why it leads with single figures:
“Please note that Korean disclosure regulations do not allow earnings estimates to be offered as a range. To comply with such regulations, the above figures represent the median of the estimate ranges provided below.”
Samsung Electronics, earnings guidance for the third quarter of 2026
Memory sales outpace the rest of the business
Samsung does not break down its preliminary figures by business. Seoul Economic Daily attributes the profit growth to DRAM, NAND flash and high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, as technology companies build AI data centers, and reports that supply shortages have persisted not only in HBM but also in server DRAM and NAND. Analysts cited by the paper say Samsung’s large DRAM production capacity lets it supply more as demand rises, while a growing share of higher-value products lifts average selling prices.
The company is increasing supply of HBM4, the sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory used in Nvidia’s next-generation AI accelerators, and is developing HBM4E, the Seoul Economic Daily report says. At the same time, prices for conventional DRAM have risen. That combination means both sales of premium AI memory and the wider memory market are contributing to the earnings surge.
Samsung’s estimated operating margin reaches 55.1%, compared with 52.2% in the second quarter. The margin—operating profit as a share of revenue—shows that the company is converting more of its sales into operating earnings. Seoul Economic Daily reads the higher margin as a counter to concern that the recent rise in memory prices may be nearing a peak, though one quarter of guidance does not establish how long prices or supply constraints will hold.
Chip costs squeeze Samsung’s consumer units
The earnings boom does not lift every part of Samsung equally. Seoul Economic Daily reports that most of the expected third-quarter operating profit is believed to come from semiconductors and Samsung Display. Higher memory costs, meanwhile, pressure the company’s phones and appliances; the report cites industry estimates that the finished-products division posted an operating loss of about ₩2 trillion in the quarter. Brokerage estimates reported by the Korea Times range from ₩1.1 trillion to ₩2.64 trillion.
That contrast matters for a company that sells both memory chips and devices that use them. Higher chip prices can improve the semiconductor business while raising costs for phones and home appliances. Samsung’s companywide profit total therefore reflects not just demand for AI hardware, but also the strain that the same memory market can place on its consumer businesses.
Final results are due October 29
Added to first-half results, the preliminary estimate takes Samsung’s operating profit for the first nine months of 2026 to about ₩254 trillion, according to the Seoul Economic Daily report. Market forecasts cited there put fourth-quarter operating profit above ₩100 trillion, with some as high as ₩121 trillion; those are analyst expectations, not company guidance. The difference between a striking quarterly estimate and a durable annual trend will depend on memory prices, supply and demand across Samsung’s businesses.
Samsung plans to discuss its third-quarter results on an earnings conference call on October 29. Until then, ₩107.4 trillion remains the company’s preliminary operating-profit estimate for the quarter—not its final reported result.