Samsung says AI chip demand is set to drive record profit
Samsung said in earnings guidance that its quarterly profit was forecast to rise more than eight-fold to almost triple its previous record
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Samsung said in preliminary earnings guidance Tuesday that it expects to report an operating profit of 57.2 trillion won, or $37.8 billion, for the first quarter of 2026 — a more than eight-fold year-over-year gain and an all-time quarterly high.
That would be roughly three times Samsung’s prior quarterly earnings peak of 20.07 trillion won, which Samsung posted just last quarter, according to Reuters. It would also comfortably clear analysts’ expectations: Reuters placed the LSEG SmartEstimate consensus at 40.6 trillion won, while CNBC reported a 42.3 trillion won figure from the same service, which gives greater weight to forecasters with stronger track records.
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Samsung’s guidance pointed to top-line revenue of 133 trillion won in the first quarter, a roughly 68% jump compared to the 79.14 trillion won it reported in the year-ago quarter.
The guidance was driven by Samsung’s memory chip business, where demand for chips used in AI computing has outpaced supply and pushed prices higher. TrendForce, a market research firm, has projected that the ongoing supply crunch will push contract DRAM prices up by more than half during the current quarter. Samsung has also benefited from a weakening South Korean won, which has boosted repatriated earnings, according to Reuters.
Samsung stock initially surged about 5% on the news before giving back most of those gains.
The company faces potential headwinds in the coming quarters. Chipmakers including Samsung face potential materials shortages tied to the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, which has interrupted the flow of key inputs to semiconductor production — among them helium. TrendForce Senior Vice President Avril Wu told Reuters that spot DRAM prices softened in the prior week, citing difficulty among end consumers in keeping pace with the run-up in pricing. Analysts have also flagged concern about whether memory price increases can be sustained.
Samsung said it will release full first-quarter earnings on April 30.