Samsung forecasts $80 billion quarterly profit as AI memory demand surges

Samsung Electronics expects to post an operating profit of 107.4 trillion won, around $80 billion, for the third quarter of 2026. That figure would make it the first technology company ever to cross the 100 trillion won mark in a single quarter.

The numbers behind the record

The preliminary guidance pairs that profit figure with revenue of 195 trillion won for the quarter.

The year-over-year comparison is where things get a little absurd. In Q3 2025, Samsung booked an operating profit of 12.17 trillion won.

Going from 12.17 trillion won to 107.4 trillion won works out to a 782.5% increase. Put more simply, the company is making nearly nine times what it made in the same quarter a year earlier.

This also marks Samsung’s fourth straight record quarter. The prior high-water mark came just one quarter ago, when Q2 2026 delivered 89.49 trillion won in operating profit.

Samsung’s operating margin is estimated at 55.1%, the highest in the company’s history.

Where the money is coming from

The heavy lifting comes from the semiconductor division, known internally as Device Solutions. Analysts estimate the unit generated around 110 trillion won in operating profit.

That estimate is slightly higher than the company’s total forecast. The implication is that the chip business is carrying the rest of the conglomerate on its back, with other divisions netting out to a smaller contribution.

Samsung’s HBM4 sales to AI chip developers such as Nvidia are driving the surge.

How Samsung got here

The forward projections are even larger. Full-year 2026 operating profit is projected to exceed 300 trillion won, with expectations of about 550 trillion won in 2027.

Samsung itself anticipates that tight memory supply will persist into 2028, as demand for AI capabilities keeps outrunning capacity growth.

What this means

For investors, the most important signal is where the profits are pooling in the AI trade. A 55.1% estimated operating margin suggests memory makers currently hold real leverage over their customers.

For now, the key items to track are the final Q3 figures when Samsung reports full results, the trajectory of HBM4 demand from customers like Nvidia, and whether supply genuinely stays tight through 2028.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Diego Almada Lopez. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.