Samsung Electronics Posts 107.4 Trillion Won in Q3 Operating Profit, a 'First-Ever 100 Trillion Won Breakthrough' for Korean Companies

Third-quarter revenue of 195 trillion won and operating profit of 107.4 trillion won
Record results set for fourth consecutive quarter
Growth accelerates amid surging demand for AI and advanced semiconductors

Samsung Electronics posted operating profit of more than KRW 107 trillion in the third quarter of this year, ushering in an era of quarterly operating profit exceeding KRW 100 trillion for the first time in the history of South Korean companies.

In a regulatory filing on October 8, Samsung Electronics said it recorded revenue of KRW 195 trillion and operating profit of KRW 107.4 trillion in the third quarter of this year. Revenue rose 126.59% and operating profit climbed 782.50% from the same period a year earlier. This is the first time a South Korean company has posted quarterly operating profit of more than KRW 100 trillion, and the first such record among global tech companies as well.

Yonhap News Agency

After posting record results in the fourth quarter of last year, with revenue of KRW 93.8 trillion and operating profit of KRW 20.1 trillion, Samsung Electronics set a new milestone by breaking its records for both revenue and operating profit for four consecutive quarters. Its operating profit in this single quarter alone was nearly 2.5 times its full-year operating profit of KRW 43.6 trillion last year.

The results are seen as a consequence of surging demand for memory semiconductors amid the global race for AI dominance. Although Samsung Electronics did not disclose detailed results by division, analysts believe its Device Solutions (DS) division, which handles semiconductors, drove the company's overall performance.

Analysts estimate that the DS division's operating profit was roughly in line with, or slightly exceeded, the company's total operating profit. They estimate that the DRAM business posted about KRW 80 trillion in operating profit and the NAND business about KRW 30 trillion. Meanwhile, the finished-products Device eXperience (DX) division, which handles smartphones, TVs and home appliances, is believed to have remained in the red for a second consecutive quarter due to the cost burden from sharply rising component prices.

Industry observers expect the earnings uptrend to continue in the fourth quarter and into next year, buoyed by a semiconductor supercycle. TrendForce, a global market research firm, forecast that fourth-quarter prices for conventional DRAM would rise 10-15% from the previous quarter, while NAND prices would increase 15-20%.

HBM4, the sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory that was the first in the world to enter mass production, is also expected to contribute meaningfully to earnings starting next year. Accordingly, analysts are raising their forecasts for Samsung Electronics' full-year operating profit next year to around KRW 550 trillion.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.