Samsung Sees Operating Profit Topping $80 Billion Amid AI Boom

By Kwanwoo Jun

Samsung Electronics forecast quarterly operating profit exceeding $80 billion for the first time, confirming that its run of record earnings has room to go as the world's largest memory-chip maker continues to cash in on the artificial-intelligence boom.

The staggering preliminary estimate--more than twice what Samsung made for the whole of 2025--comes as the memory giant 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 107.400 trillion won, equivalent to $80.18 billion, the company said.

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

The projected figure surpassed Samsung's previous record of about 89 trillion won set in the second quarter and largely met a FactSet-compiled consensus estimate 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 195.000 trillion won. Analysts' estimates were for 206.810 trillion won.

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

Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 07, 2026 19:46 ET (23:46 GMT)