Samsung Tops 100 Trillion Won in Quarterly Profit as AI Memory Sells Out

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Samsung Electronics reported third-quarter operating profit of 107.4 trillion won on Oct. 29, 2026, making it, in the company’s words, the world’s first tech company to top 100 trillion won in quarterly operating profit. Revenue reached a record 195.3 trillion won, up 14% from the second quarter, as demand for memory chips used in AI servers pushed prices higher, according to Samsung’s earnings release.

Key figures: ₩195.3T revenue (+14% QoQ) · ₩107.4T operating profit · ₩106.5T from chips · HBM4 sales up 3x QoQ

Chips made almost all of the money

Samsung’s Device Solutions division, which houses its memory, chip design and contract manufacturing businesses, posted 147.1 trillion won in revenue and 106.5 trillion won in operating profit. The memory business set all-time highs for both quarterly revenue and profit. Samsung said it focused its product mix on AI products while its factories ran short of capacity, and that strong server demand lifted market prices across all applications.

The headline product is HBM4, the newest generation of high-bandwidth memory, which is stacked next to AI processors in data-center accelerators. On its earnings call, Samsung said HBM4 revenue tripled from the second quarter and now makes up 60% of its HBM revenue, MoneyToday reported. “Negotiations for next year’s HBM supply volumes have been completed at target price levels considering product competitiveness, and the supply is already sold out,” the company said, adding that major customers keep asking for more.

The contract chipmaking arm, Samsung Foundry, reported a notable improvement in revenue and earnings, helped by sales of HBM base dies, advanced-node chips and new orders from 2-nanometer customers that Samsung said include major hyperscalers. It expects its new fab in Taylor, Texas, to begin operations in 2027.

By the numbers: a profit jump of nearly ninefold

The scale of the change shows up best against a year ago. In the third quarter of 2025, Samsung reported revenue of 86.1 trillion won and operating profit of 12.2 trillion won, according to its Q3 2025 release. That means revenue rose about 127% year over year and operating profit rose about 780%, or 8.8 times, by TBR’s calculation from Samsung’s figures.

Against the second quarter of 2026, when Samsung reported 171.5 trillion won in revenue and 89.5 trillion won in operating profit, the third quarter added 23.8 trillion won in revenue and 17.9 trillion won in profit, a 20% profit gain. Samsung’s overall operating margin reached about 55%, up from about 52% in the second quarter and about 14% a year earlier. The chip division alone generated about 99% of the company’s operating profit.

Phones and TVs lost money

Outside chips, the picture was weaker. The Device eXperience division, which makes phones, TVs and appliances, grew revenue 8% from the second quarter but recorded an operating loss of 0.8 trillion won. The mobile and networks businesses lost 0.6 trillion won on 37.7 trillion won of revenue, which Samsung blamed on cost pressures, even as foldable launches lifted sales. TVs and appliances lost a combined 0.2 trillion won, with higher raw material and logistics costs.

Samsung Display posted 8.0 trillion won in revenue and 1.1 trillion won in operating profit. Harman, the audio and car electronics unit, improved, helped by one-time U.S. tariff refunds.

Spending more, and returning cash

Samsung spent 29 trillion won on capital projects in the quarter, 12.2 trillion won more than in the second quarter, and now expects about 84.4 trillion won for the full year, including 76.8 trillion won for chips. It declared a third-quarter dividend of 4,601 won per share, totaling 30 trillion won, and said it plans a substantial share buyback and cancellation as part of 90 trillion to 110 trillion won in total shareholder returns for 2026.

For 2027, Samsung said it expects AI infrastructure spending to reach a historic level and AI-driven memory demand to far exceed industry supply. The results follow record numbers from rival SK hynix, and they land in the same week U.S. cloud giants reported heavy AI spending, including Alphabet. Those buyers are the companies whose data-center budgets pay for Samsung’s memory.

Sources

• Samsung Newsroom: Third Quarter 2026 Results (Oct. 29, 2026)
• Samsung Newsroom: Second Quarter 2026 Results
• Samsung Newsroom: Third Quarter 2025 Results
• MoneyToday: HBM4 sales tripled, next year’s supply fully booked (Oct. 29, 2026)

Additional sources

• Samsung Q3 2026 earnings presentation (PDF)
• Samsung Investor Relations: earnings releases