Samsung’s AI chip boom drives record $80B third-quarter profit forecast

# Samsung Forecasts Record $80 Billion Quarterly Operating Profit as AI Chip Demand Surges

Samsung Electronics expects its operating profit to surge to a record level in the third quarter of 2026, as booming demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure drives earnings growth in the global memory chip industry.

The South Korean technology giant forecast operating profit of approximately 107.4 trillion Korean won, equivalent to about $80.17 billion. If confirmed in its final results, the figure would represent an almost ninefold increase from the 12.17 trillion won reported during the same period last year.

The preliminary estimate would also mark Samsung’s fourth consecutive quarter of record operating profit, highlighting the scale of the current AI-driven semiconductor boom. The company released its earnings guidance on Thursday, noting that the figures were prepared under Korean International Financial Reporting Standards and remain subject to its full financial report.

Samsung projected third-quarter revenue of approximately 195 trillion won, a 126.6% increase from 86.06 trillion won a year earlier. Its official guidance placed sales between 194 trillion and 196 trillion won, while operating profit was estimated within a range of 107.3 trillion to 107.5 trillion won.

The projected operating profit exceeded the 106.1 trillion won estimate cited by Reuters from LSEG SmartEstimate, suggesting that Samsung’s earnings performance could be stronger than analysts had anticipated.

The semiconductor division is expected to account for much of the improvement, benefiting from rising demand for memory products used in AI servers, data centers and advanced computing systems.

As technology companies expand their AI infrastructure, demand has increased for high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, which helps processors access large amounts of data at high speeds. The boom has also tightened supplies of conventional dynamic random-access memory, known as DRAM, and NAND flash memory used in storage devices.

Samsung is working to strengthen its position in the HBM market, where it competes with South Korean rival SK Hynix. Douglas Kim of Douglas Research Advisory estimated that Samsung’s HBM bit shipments rose by nearly 50% from the previous quarter during the third quarter, according to Reuters.

The latest forecast builds on Samsung’s strong performance in the April-June period, when the company reported revenue of 171.5 trillion won and operating profit of 89.49 trillion won. The new estimates indicate further growth in both revenue and profitability as semiconductor demand continues to expand.

The AI boom, however, has not benefited every part of Samsung’s business equally. While memory chips have emerged as a major earnings driver, other divisions continue to face operating challenges.

Analysts cited by Reuters estimated that Samsung’s mobile business recorded a loss exceeding $1 billion during the third quarter, worse than expected. The result highlights the uneven performance of a company whose operations span smartphones, consumer electronics, semiconductor manufacturing and other technology products.

Samsung’s foundry business, which manufactures chips designed by other companies, was also expected to remain loss-making. Fixed operating costs and relatively low factory utilization have continued to weigh on the division, although analysts anticipate improved utilization rates over the coming quarters.

Beyond its core semiconductor operations, Samsung is expanding its participation in the wider AI infrastructure market. On September 29, the company and five Samsung affiliates announced a combined $1 billion investment in Helix Digital Infrastructure, an AI infrastructure business established by private equity firm KKR.

Samsung Electronics is contributing $500 million to the investment, with the remaining amount coming from other Samsung affiliates. KKR, the Kuwait Investment Authority, Nvidia and Vistra are among Helix’s founding investors.

Samsung has also been building relationships with AI developers. In September, the company announced a strategic partnership with French AI firm Mistral AI and said it had made a lead investment in the company’s funding round.

The collaboration is intended to explore applications of AI across Samsung’s semiconductor design and manufacturing operations, potentially helping the company improve processes and strengthen its technological capabilities.

These initiatives reflect Samsung’s broader effort to benefit from AI growth both as a supplier of essential computing components and as a technology company applying AI to its own operations.

The semiconductor industry’s current momentum has placed memory manufacturers at the center of a major investment cycle. As companies build data centers and deploy increasingly powerful AI systems, demand for specialized memory and other advanced components has become a critical factor in infrastructure expansion.

For Samsung, sustaining its recent performance will depend partly on maintaining its competitiveness in high-bandwidth memory while addressing challenges in its mobile and foundry businesses.

The company is scheduled to release its complete third-quarter financial results, including a breakdown of performance across its business divisions, on October 29. Until that report is published, the projected 107.4 trillion won operating profit and 195 trillion won revenue remain preliminary estimates rather than finalized results.

If the forecast is confirmed, Samsung’s performance would underscore the financial impact of the AI infrastructure boom and the growing importance of advanced memory chips to the global technology industry.