Samsung Electronics expects its third-quarter operating profit to reach 107.4 trillion Korean won, or about $80.17 billion, as strong demand for artificial intelligence-related memory chips drives a sharp increase in earnings.
The preliminary figure, released Thursday, would represent a nearly ninefold increase from the 12.17 trillion won operating profit Samsung recorded in the third quarter of 2025.
It also would make this the company’s fourth consecutive quarter of record operating profit. Samsung said the estimate is based on Korean International Financial Reporting Standards and remains subject to the company’s full earnings report.
Samsung also estimated third-quarter revenue at about 195 trillion won, up 126.6% from 86.06 trillion won a year earlier.
The company’s official guidance gives an estimated sales range of 194 trillion to 196 trillion won and an operating profit range of 107.3 trillion to 107.5 trillion won. The operating profit estimate is above the 106.1 trillion won LSEG SmartEstimate cited by Reuters.
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Samsung’s preliminary figures point to another strong quarter for its semiconductor operations, with memory chips expected to account for most of the earnings improvement.
Demand for memory used in AI systems has helped tighten supplies of conventional DRAM and NAND chips while increasing demand for high-bandwidth memory, or HBM. Douglas Kim of Douglas Research Advisory estimated that Samsung’s HBM bit shipments rose by close to 50% from the previous quarter during the third quarter, according to Reuters. Samsung is competing with SK Hynix to strengthen its position in the HBM market.
The latest forecast builds on Samsung’s second-quarter performance. The company reported revenue of 171.5 trillion won and operating profit of 89.49 trillion won for the April-June period.
Samsung’s third-quarter revenue estimate would therefore be higher than its second-quarter figure, while the projected operating profit would also set another quarterly record.
The memory boom has not translated into equally strong results across Samsung’s businesses.
Analysts cited by Reuters said the company’s mobile business recorded a larger-than-expected loss of more than $1 billion during the third quarter.
Samsung’s foundry business was also expected to remain loss-making because of fixed costs and relatively low utilization rates, although analysts expect utilization to improve over the coming quarters.
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Samsung has also been expanding its involvement in the broader AI infrastructure market. On Sept. 29, the company and five Samsung affiliates announced a combined $1 billion investment in Helix Digital Infrastructure, an AI infrastructure company established by KKR. Samsung Electronics is contributing $500 million, with other Samsung affiliates providing the remainder.
KKR, the Kuwait Investment Authority, Nvidia and Vistra are among Helix’s founding investors.
In September, Samsung also announced a strategic partnership with French AI company Mistral AI and said it made a lead investment in Mistral’s funding round.
The partnership is focused on applying AI technologies to Samsung’s semiconductor design and manufacturing operations.
Samsung is scheduled to release its detailed third-quarter financial results, including performance by business division, on Oct. 29. Until then, the 107.4 trillion won operating profit and 195 trillion won revenue figures remain preliminary guidance rather than final results.