(Lee Chung-woo)
Samsung Electronics Co. reported a whopping 755 percent surge in its operating profit for the first quarter on the back of a memory supercycle, fueled by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom.
In an earnings guidance for the first quarter released on Tuesday, Samsung Electronics said its operating profit stood at 57.2 trillion won ($37.9 billion), up 755 percent from the same period a year ago, on sales of 133 trillion won, up 68.1 percent.
Both quarterly revenue and operating profit reached all-time highs, surpassing the previous record set in the fourth quarter of 2025, when Samsung Electronics posted 93.8 trillion won in revenue and 20.07 trillion won in operating profit.
This is the first time that quarterly revenue has exceeded 100 trillion won and operating profit has surpassed 50 trillion won. The first quarter operating profit also exceeds Samsung Electronics’ operating profit for the entire previous year, which was 43.6 trillion won.
The results far surpassed market expectations, with operating profit exceeding the forecast of 41.8 trillion won compiled by Yonhap Infomax by 36.7 percent.
Samsung Electronics did not disclose division details but analysts estimate that the Device Solutions (DS) division, responsible for the semiconductor business, generated well over 50 trillion won in operating profit for the first quarter. This represents more than a threefold increase compared to the previous quarter’s 16.4 trillion won.
Industry estimates suggest that first-quarter prices for standard DRAM and NAND rose about 90 percent from the previous quarter.
The Device eXperience (DX) division, which handles finished products, in the meantime, is likely to have been under burden of the sharp rise in chip prices.
The Mobile eXperience (MX) and Network divisions are estimated to have posted operating profit in the 2 trillion won range, roughly half of 4.3 trillion won recorded in the same quarter last year.
The Visual Display and Digital Appliance divisions, responsible for TVs and home appliances, are estimated to have shown only slight improvements, remaining at small profits or continuing losses.
Industry observers expect the record-breaking supercycle to continue at least through this year.
In February, Samsung Electronics became the first in the world to mass-produce the high-performance 6th-generation HBM4, reclaiming technological competitiveness and positioning itself to lead the next-generation market.
Analysts, in the meantime, have raised full-year operating profit forecasts to above 300 trillion won from around 200 trillion won, with some projecting continued quarterly records and the possibility of 100 trillion won in operating profit in the fourth quarter.
Some analysts expect Samsung Electronics to surpass Nvidia Corp. next year to become the world’s top company by operating profit.
KB Securities projected Samsung Electronics to achieve an operating profit of 327 trillion won this year and 488 trillion won in 2027, noting the gap with Nvidia’s projected 357 trillion won is about 30 trillion won.
Samsung Electronics’ market capitalization of $830 billion remains 19 percent of Nvidia’s $4.3 trillion and 57 percent of TSMC’s $1.5 trillion, indicating valuation upside.
Samsung Electronics’ first-quarter operating profit ranks among the global top five in big tech.
Among major technology companies reporting recent results, operating profit stood at Apple Inc. $50.9 billion, Nvidia $44.3 billion, Microsoft Corp. $38.3 billion, Samsung Electronics about $38 billion, and Alphabet Inc. $35.93 billion.
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