Samsung Electronics Posts Record 107 Trillion Won Quarterly Profit

Samsung Electronics reported a preliminary third-quarter operating profit of approximately 107 trillion won, marking the first time a South Korean company has exceeded 100 trillion won in a single quarter. This figure represents a nearly ninefold increase from the 12 trillion won earned during the same period last year and slightly exceeded the LSEG SmartEstimate of 106 trillion won. Revenue rose nearly 127% to approximately 195 trillion won.

The record growth was driven by booming demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure and high bandwidth memory chips. However, the company's consumer electronics and mobile divisions suffered a combined loss of about 2 trillion won. Earlier reports had estimated the profit at 80.1 trillion won, which would have fallen short of analyst expectations, but the final preliminary figure confirmed the record-breaking performance.

Despite the results, Samsung shares fell 0.7% on Thursday morning. Investors reacted to slowing memory price increases and a stronger won that impacted overseas earnings. While some investors questioned the sustainability of high valuations in the AI trade, analysts remain bullish on the memory cycle and predict significant price increases by 2027.