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Global Market: Samsung Electronics posts record $80.5 billion quarterly operating profit on AI chip boom

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The July-September financial surge established a new milestone as total quarterly revenue reached 195.3 trillion won, while net profit climbed over 510% to 75.1 trillion won. Even with these historic returns, Samsung shares fell more than 5% on Thursday morning because operating profit within its semiconductor division lagged market forecasts. To placate investors amid persistent questions over the memory cycle's longevity, the company detailed an extensive shareholder return package of up to 110 trillion won. This capital return plan includes 30 trillion won in cash dividends and mirrors recent payout moves by domestic rival SK hynix.

Key points

  • Record-setting quarterly earnings failed to prevent an immediate share price drop caused…: Record-setting quarterly earnings failed to prevent an immediate share price drop caused by missed semiconductor division expectations.
  • Rapidly expanding artificial intelligence data centers are tightening conventional memory…: Rapidly expanding artificial intelligence data centers are tightening conventional memory supplies and raising hardware costs for consumer devices.
  • Chief Financial Officer Park Soon-cheol anticipated unprecedented demand for memory by 20…: Chief Financial Officer Park Soon-cheol anticipated unprecedented demand for memory by 2027 driven by infrastructure competition and personal AI agents.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

The world's largest memory chipmaker posted operating profit of 107.4 trillion won ($80.5 billion) for the July-September quarter, marking an increase of more than 780% from a year earlier. It was the first time a technology company had reported quarterly operating profit exceeding 100 trillion won, Samsung said.

Net profit jumped more than 510% year-on-year to 75.1 trillion won, while revenue reached 195.3 trillion won.

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According to AFP, the rapid expansion of data centres to train and run chatbots, image generators and other AI applications has boosted earnings across the semiconductor industry, despite growing concerns about excessive valuations and the sustainability of AI-related investments.

Samsung shares fell more than 5% on Thursday morning as investors reacted to the results. The semiconductor division's operating profit missed market expectations, Bloomberg News reported, tempering the positive impact of the company's record overall earnings.

Samsung said its memory business achieved another record quarter by optimising its product mix and prioritising AI-related products amid capacity constraints. Strong demand for server applications also pushed…

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