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Samsung Forecasts Record Profit as AI Chip Demand Soars
Samsung expects to make 107.4 trillion won in operating profit from July through September.
That is nearly nine times as much as it made in the same period a year earlier.
The estimate is higher than analysts had expected.
Many companies are buying memory chips for computers and equipment that run artificial intelligence.
Strong demand and limited supply have pushed chip prices up.
This helps Samsung’s chip business, but it can make parts more expensive for its phone and home-electronics businesses.
One analyst estimated Samsung’s shipments of a specialized AI-related chip rose close to 50% from the previous quarter.
Samsung plans to publish more detailed results on October 29.
The articles give different estimates for how long the memory shortage may continue: into 2027 or into 2028.
Samsung Electronics forecast third-quarter operating profit of 107.4 trillion won, nearly nine times the year-earlier figure.
The estimate exceeded the 106.1 trillion won LSEG SmartEstimate and would mark Samsung’s fourth consecutive quarterly record.
Samsung projected revenue of 195 trillion won, up 127% from a year earlier.
Strong AI-related demand and tight supply have lifted memory prices; one analyst estimated Samsung’s high-bandwidth memory shipments rose close to 50% quarter over quarter.
Higher memory costs may pressure Samsung’s smartphone and consumer-electronics businesses; the articles differ on whether the supply imbalance could persist into 2027 or 2028.
- Who
- Samsung Electronics
- What
- Projected third-quarter operating profit of 107.4 trillion won, driven chiefly by strong memory-chip earnings.
- Where
- Seoul, South Korea.
- When
- The estimate was announced October 8, 2026, for the July–September quarter.
- Why
- Strong AI-related demand for memory chips has outpaced supply growth and lifted chip prices.
Chip Business Gains
Costs and Outlook Risks
Effect of rising memory prices
Chip Business Gains
Strong AI demand and tight supply are lifting memory prices and are expected to drive most of Samsung’s earnings improvement.
Costs and Outlook Risks
Higher memory prices increase costs for Samsung’s smartphone and consumer-electronics businesses and may squeeze their margins.
Durability of the boom
Chip Business Gains
The articles describe continuing AI-related demand and expect memory supply to remain tight, with one report saying the imbalance could persist into 2028.
Costs and Outlook Risks
The articles cite risks to longer-term earnings, including a potential slowdown in AI spending; one report says fourth-quarter profit growth may slow as chip-price growth abates.
Key facts
- Estimated operating profit
- 107.4 trillion won ($80.17 billion)
- Year-earlier operating profit
- 12.17 trillion won
- Analysts’ estimate
- 106.1 trillion won, according to LSEG SmartEstimate
- Estimated revenue
- 195 trillion won, up 127% year over year
- Quarter covered
- July–September 2026
- Detailed results due
- October 29
- Supply outlook
- One article says the imbalance may persist into 2027; the other says Samsung and Micron expect it to persist into 2028.
Quotes
Kim Seok-hwan
Market analyst at Mirae Asset Securities
“The market's focus has shifted to whether the sharp earnings growth that started a year ago would be sustainable.”
livemint.com
Sources
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