Samsung Posts Record Quarterly Operating Profit Above 100 Trillion Won for First Time

Samsung Electronics reported preliminary third-quarter operating profit of 107.4 trillion won, roughly $80.2 billion, marking the first time the company has surpassed the 100 trillion won threshold in a single quarter. The result beat the LSEG SmartEstimate of 106.1 trillion won, though it came in just below a separate Bloomberg consensus estimate of 108.67 trillion won. Revenue for the quarter reached 195 trillion won, missing estimates that ranged from 199 trillion won to 201.9 trillion won, as sales growth lagged the strength seen in profit.

The record profit was driven by a windfall in memory chips, continuing the momentum from the second quarter when Samsung posted operating profit of 89.5 trillion won and revenue of 171.5 trillion won, both records at the time. The sequential jump from 89.5 trillion to 107.4 trillion won underscores the accelerating pace of demand for memory, with AI infrastructure spending continuing to lift prices and volumes. Full third-quarter results, including a divisional breakdown, are due later in October.

The report comes a week after memory peer Micron disclosed fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $54.2 billion and guided its first quarter to $61.5 billion, reinforcing the broader strength across the memory sector tied to AI server buildouts.