[News] Samsung Sees 3Q26 Operating Profit Soaring 783% to Record KRW 107.4 Trillion on HBM4, Memory Price Gains

The memory boom shows no signs of slowing, with Samsung Electronics reporting a sharp earnings surge in its preliminary third-quarter results released on October 8. According to its official earnings guidance, cited by Seoul Economic TV, consolidated operating profit soared 782.5% year over year to KRW 107.4 trillion, while revenue jumped 126.6% to KRW 195 trillion.

The profit figure also edged past the LSEG SmartEstimate of KRW 106.1 trillion, according to Reuters. More notably, Seoul Economic TV highlights that Samsung has set another quarterly earnings record, with operating profit crossing the KRW 100 trillion threshold for the first time.

The earnings surge is also reshaping Samsung’s full-year outlook. According to Hankyung, third-quarter operating profit alone has already surpassed last year’s full-year total of KRW 43.6 trillion, lifting cumulative profit for the first nine months to KRW 254.13 trillion. With momentum holding firm, full-year operating profit is now projected to comfortably exceed KRW 300 trillion.

According to Reuters, both Samsung and Micron expect memory supply to remain tight through 2028, potentially sustaining the earnings rally. However, rising costs, intensifying competition from Chinese rivals, and potential U.S. semiconductor tariffs could weigh on their longer-term profitability, the report adds.

Chip Division Drives Earnings Surge as HBM4 Gains Traction

Attention now turns to Samsung’s full earnings release on October 29, when the company is expected to provide a breakdown of its performance by business division, Reuters notes.

According to Hankyung, Samsung’s Device Solutions (DS) division, which oversees its semiconductor operations, likely spearheaded the third-quarter earnings surge, with revenue estimated to have exceeded KRW 100 trillion. HBM4 sales also began making a meaningful contribution during the quarter, fueled by demand for NVIDIA’s Vera Rubin AI accelerators, the report adds.

Prices of conventional DRAM used in smartphones and PCs also surged amid tightening supply, Hankyung reports. Yet shipment growth remains constrained: analysts cited by Reuters expect conventional DRAM bit shipments to stay largely flat quarter over quarter amid tight inventories.

HBM, meanwhile, paints a different picture. Fueled by strong HBM4 demand, Samsung’s HBM bit shipments reportedly jumped nearly 50% quarter over quarter in the third quarter, according to Reuters.

However, the memory boom is also creating a growing headache for Samsung’s smartphone and consumer electronics divisions, as soaring component costs put pressure on margins. Seoul Economic Daily, citing analysts, notes that the DX division, which recorded its first-ever quarterly operating loss of 800 billion won in the second quarter, is estimated to have widened that loss beyond 1 trillion won in the third quarter.

Meanwhile, Samsung’s contract chipmaking, ⁠or foundry, business is expected to remain loss-making because of the burden of fixed costs and still-low utilisation rates, Reuters suggests.

Read more

• [News] Samsung 3Q Preliminary Results Preview: Market Sees Historic KRW 100T Profit, Memory Margin Could Top 80%
• [News] Samsung Sees HBM Taking Nearly 30% of Industry DRAM Capacity in 2027, Up From 20% Currently

(Photo credit: Samsung)