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Samsung Electronics on Tuesday projected its third-quarter operating profit would jump by 32% compared to last year, exceeding market predictions as robust demand for standard memory chips made up for slower sales of high-bandwidth memory products.
The South Korean technology giant estimated its operating profit at around 12.1 trillion won (US$8.5 billion) for the July–September period, its highest quarterly earnings since the second quarter of 2022.
According to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, the figure exceeded the market consensus by 17.4%.
Robust demand for server and artificial intelligence chips lifted prices and shipments of conventional NAND and DRAM memory.
“Samsung reclaimed the top spot in memory market revenue in the third quarter,” said MS Hwang, research director at Counterpoint, citing stronger-than-expected sales volumes driven by AI-related server investments.
Earlier this month, Samsung announced preliminary deals with OpenAI to supply chips and equipment for its Stargate project.
In July, the firm signed a US$16.5 billion agreement with Tesla to produce its next-generation AI6 chip at Samsung’s new plant in Taylor, Texas.
In its Tuesday filing, Samsung reported an 8.7 per cent increase in sales to 86 trillion won, though it did not disclose net income figures.
Counterpoint’s vice president, Neil Shah, told AFP that stronger mobile earnings also contributed, fuelled by an improved product mix and demand for the new Galaxy Z Fold7 and other foldables.
Samsung’s shares rose 2.79 per cent in early Seoul trading. The company will release its final earnings report at the end of the month.
