Quarterly operating profit jumped almost ninefold to 107.4 trillion won. Shares barely moved because investors expected the number.
Samsung Electronics estimated its third-quarter operating profit at 107.4 trillion won ($80.2 billion, €71.5 billion) on 8 October 2026, a record. The figure is up 782.5% from 12.17 trillion won ($9.1 billion, €8.1 billion) a year earlier. Revenue rose 126.6% to about 195 trillion won ($145.7 billion, €130 billion). Samsung is the world’s largest memory chipmaker, and AI data centres are absorbing its supply.
As TF covered in AI Chip Rally Lifts Wall Street as Chinese Labs Eye IPOs, the AI chip trade already drove US indexes to records. Samsung’s stock has almost quadrupled since last September, Euronews reports. On the day the news broke, it slipped.
What’s Happening & Why It Matters
A Ninefold Jump
Samsung beat the LSEG SmartEstimate of 106.1 trillion won. It’s the first time a South Korean company has posted quarterly operating profit above 100 trillion won (€66.6 billion). It’s Samsung’s fourth consecutive record quarter. Profit rose about 20% from 89.5 trillion won in the second quarter. Samsung publishes full results, including divisional profits, later in the month, CNBC reports.
What Drives the Profit
Memory prices and AI demand drive the result. AI data centres are buying high-bandwidth memory (HBM), stacked chips that feed data to AI processors. Supply of standard DRAM and NAND is tight too, and prices are rising, Reuters reports. AI agents consume far more memory than a chatbot answering one question, an analyst told CNBC.
Douglas Kim of Douglas Research Advisory estimates Samsung’s HBM shipments grew by almost 50% in the quarter. SK Hynix still leads HBM, accounting for about 58% of revenue, per Counterpoint Research figures reported in June. Higher DRAM and NAND prices raise smartphone production costs, AFP notes. TF reported the consumer squeeze in RAMageddon Hits MacBook Air Supply as Chip Shortage Deepens.
TSMC Posts a Record Quarter
TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, reported September revenue of NT$511.86 billion ($16 billion, €14 billion), up 54.6% from a year earlier. Third-quarter revenue reached a record NT$1.494 trillion ($46.8 billion, €41.8 billion), up about 50%. That beat company guidance of $44.6 billion to $45.8 billion and an analyst average of NT$1.46 trillion. September came in 0.6% below August’s monthly record. Revenue for January to September rose 41.1% to NT$3.899 trillion.
Shares Barely Move
Samsung shares slipped less than 1% in Seoul on Thursday, to about 267,000 won ($200, €178), TradingKey reports. Strong results were already priced in. Analysts expect fourth-quarter operating profit to rise 8.2% from the third quarter, against about 20% in the third, TelecomLead reports. It adds that Chinese competition and the pace of AI infrastructure spending could change the outlook.
TF reviewed the Chinese challenger in Chinese Memory Chipmaker CXMT Surges on Stock Market Debut.
Workers Want Their Share
Samsung averted a strike earlier this year with a deal paying semiconductor staff bonuses equal to 10.5% of operating profit, AFP reports. About 78,000 of its 125,000 domestic employees qualify for a bonus of nearly $370,000 (€330,000), based on an estimated market profit. In Taiwan on Wednesday, union representatives said hundreds of workers at a Micron plant voted to strike after bonus talks collapsed.
TF Summary: What’s Next
Samsung will publish full third-quarter results later in October, including memory profit, HBM sales, and capital spending. Analysts expect TSMC’s third-quarter net profit to be NT$740.8 billion ($23.2 billion, €20.7 billion), up about 64%, according to a Reuters survey. Micron’s Taiwan workers have voted to strike. Samsung’s estimate is preliminary and unaudited.
MY FORECAST: Expect Samsung’s full results to show memory supplying most of the profit. Expect fourth-quarter growth to slow to single digits, as analysts forecast. Expect bonus demands at other memory makers to rise after Samsung’s payout figures circulate. Watch Micron’s strike vote and SK Hynix’s results to see whether record profit translates into higher labour costs.
Related Stories
- AI Chip Rally Lifts Wall Street as Chinese Labs Eye IPOs
- RAMageddon Hits MacBook Air Supply as Chip Shortage Deepens
- Chinese Memory Chipmaker CXMT Surges on Stock Market Debut
- Sour Sentiment Triggers AI, Chip Stocks Sell Off
- TSMC and Sony Are Investing Billions in a New Chip and Sensor Plant