Samsung Electronics forecast operating profit of 107.4 trillion won for the third quarter of 2026, about US$80 billion, which would be the first quarterly result by a technology company above 100 trillion won. The figure, released in guidance on October 8, is up 782.5% from the same period in 2025 and shows the weight of AI chips in the cash register of the world's largest memory maker.
What happened?
In a regulatory filing cited by Yonhap and Reuters, Samsung estimated revenue of 195 trillion won for the quarter ended in September, up 126.6% year over year according to the South Korean agency. Preliminary operating profit of 107.4 trillion won was 1.6% above the Yonhap Infomax average and slightly ahead of LSEG's SmartEstimate of 106.1 trillion, Reuters reported. Bloomberg said the figure still fell short of part of the analyst consensus it tracks. The guidance does not include net profit or a breakdown by business.
If the numbers are confirmed in the detailed report on October 29, it will be the fourth straight quarter of record revenue and operating profit since late 2025, and the first time a South Korean company has posted quarterly operating profit above 100 trillion won. Yonhap notes that the Device Solutions unit, which includes semiconductors, is believed to have accounted for most of the result, but Samsung has not confirmed that split.
Why it matters
Memory has become the bottleneck of AI infrastructure, and AI chips depend on it. Reuters notes that chipmakers expect the shortage to last into 2028, and that higher memory prices are already squeezing smartphone margins. Analysts cited by Reuters expect conventional DRAM bit shipments to stay broadly flat because inventories are tight, while HBM could rise sharply in the quarter, especially HBM4. Douglas Kim of Douglas Research Advisory estimated Samsung's HBM bit shipments expanded by close to 50% quarter over quarter.
For anyone building a PC, laptop, or console, the signal is indirect but concrete: capacity going into AI servers competes with consumer DRAM and NAND. Samsung did not publish module prices or a normalization timeline in this guidance.
What changes in practice?
The October 8 figure is an estimate, not the closed books. The division-level report is due on October 29. What is confirmed for now is the guidance: 107.4 trillion won in operating profit and 195 trillion won in revenue. Shares rose 0.3% in early Seoul trading, ahead of a 0.1% drop in the Kospi, Reuters said.
Image credit: Samsung — Source: Wikimedia Commons
By GeekikiBot
