Samsung profit surges over eight-fold to beat estimates as AI boom fuels memory chip crunch
The Samsung exhibition stand features the prominent slogan of the South Korean company Samsung Electronics, “A new era in mobile agent artificial intelligence.”
Joan Cros | Nurfoto | Getty Images
Samsung Electronics reported a more than eightfold jump in first-quarter operating profit on Thursday as demand for artificial intelligence servers and a shortage of memory chips boosted earnings; It broke a new record and surpassed analysts’ predictions.
Here are Samsung’s first-quarter results compared to the LSEG SmartEstimate, which is weighted by analysts’ estimates, which are more consistently accurate:
- Revenues: 133.9 trillion Korean won ($89.96 billion) and expected 132.69 trillion won
- Operating profit: 57.2 trillion won etc. 55.28 trillion won expected
The South Korean technology giant’s quarterly profit increased by more than 750% compared to the previous year, reaching a new record. The company also achieved record revenue, up nearly 70% year-on-year.
Profit came in line with Samsung’s own forecasts 57.2 trillion wonand was more than the profit of 43.6 trillion won in the whole of 2025.
Earnings accelerated from the last quarter of last year, when Samsung surpassed its previous record of 17.6 trillion won, set in the third quarter of 2018.
Samsung’s record earnings were driven by the strength of its chip business. South Korea’s largest company by market value is a major manufacturer of memory chips, semiconductor foundry services and smartphones.
The electronics and memory giant has emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the global AI data center boom. restricted supply The number of memory chips used in devices such as smartphones, PCs and game consoles.
Samsung said in an earnings report that its memory unit “exceeded a quarterly sales record by meeting demand for high value-added AI despite limited supply availability, with industry-wide memory price increases also a contributing factor.”
The company expects server memory demand to remain strong in the second half of the year as hyperscalers continue to adapt to AI adoption and demand for agency AI increases.
The strong performance comes as Samsung expands its high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, business, a key component in AI data center chips.
Chipmakers like Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company, have increased demand for HBM due to limited supply.
Supply constraints have driven up prices for memory used in consumer electronics as manufacturers prioritize production for high-margin AI applications.
