[News] Samsung Reportedly Eyes 10T Won Q3 Profit on Soaring DRAM, Profit Doubling from Q2

With Samsung set to report its third-quarter earnings on October 14, industry sources expect the company is poised to post its strongest Q3 profit since 2022, potentially crossing the 10 trillion won ($7.11 billion) mark, according to Reuters and Business Korea.

Reuters attributes Samsung’s strong performance to rising prices for conventional memory chips, fueled by robust server demand and customers restocking inventories. These gains have reportedly helped offset softer sales of HBM chips, as Samsung’s 12-layer HBM3e has only recently been approved by NVIDIA and has yet to be delivered to the AI chip giant.

Reuters, citing TrendForce, notes that certain DRAM chips commonly used in servers, smartphones, and PCs surged 171.8% in the third quarter compared with a year ago. As Commercial Times reported last week, Korean and U.S. chipmakers have suspended new enterprise quotes for a week, and DDR4 contract prices may rise more than 30% in Q4, with certain models soaring over 50%, likely driving DDR3 upward as well.

TrendForce projects conventional DRAM prices to rise 8–13% QoQ in 4Q25, and when HBM is included, the increase could widen to 13-18%.

Business Korea reports that Samsung’s Q2 operating profit was capped at 4.68 trillion won due to weak memory sales and foundry losses. The outlook improved in Q3, however, as demand for general-purpose memory—particularly for AI-focused servers—rebounded. An industry insider cited by the report noted that the impact of higher DRAM prices will begin to show in full effect from Q4.

Momentum Builds Across Samsung’s Chip Business

As Business Korea indicates, Samsung has recently gained momentum in both its memory and foundry businesses, with prospects improving as the company secures deals with major clients such as OpenAI and Tesla.

On the other hand, Samsung is also expected to benefit from the AMD-OpenAI mega deal: according to SeDaily, Samsung Electronics is set to supply the crucial HBM4 memory, marking a significant shift in the global AI semiconductor landscape that had long centered around NVIDIA and SK hynix.

TrendForce notes that the company is currently undergoing qualification for HBM4 12-hi to be used in AMD’s next-generation MI400 and MI450 Series, and is expected to remain a key supplier for AMD moving forward.

Read more

• [News] Korea, U.S. DRAM Giants Reportedly Halt Pricing for a Week, Memory Module Makers Follow
• [News] Samsung Reportedly to Supply HBM4 for AMD MI450 in OpenAI Deal, Taking On NVIDIA–SK hynix

(Photo credit: Samsung)