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Samsung flags $80 billion profit on AI boom, highest quarterly for any tech company
Reuters • • general
Key Points:
- Samsung Electronics forecasts a record operating profit of 107.4 trillion won ($80.17 billion) for Q3, driven by a global memory chip shortage and strong AI infrastructure demand, surpassing market expectations.
- This marks Samsung's fourth consecutive quarter of record profits, with memory chips, especially DRAM and NAND, contributing significantly due to soaring prices amid tight supply.
- Despite strong memory chip performance, Samsung's mobile division reported a larger-than-expected loss exceeding $1 billion in Q3, impacted by rising component costs.
- Analysts predict Q4 profit growth will slow to 8.2% sequentially as chip price increases moderate, with conventional DRAM prices expected to rise 10-15%, down from a 60% surge in Q2.
- Samsung’s foundry business remains loss-making due to fixed costs and low utilization, and investors are anticipating details on the company’s shareholder return policy in the upcoming earnings call.
