Samsung Electronics has confirmed third-quarter operating profit of 107.44 trillion won, about $80.5 billion, which SiliconANGLE describes as a quarterly record for the technology industry. The figure matches the preliminary guidance the company issued earlier in the month. It also makes Samsung the first South Korean company in any sector to pass 100 trillion won in quarterly operating profit.
Revenue reached 195.25 trillion won, up 127% from a year earlier. Operating profit grew by more than 780%, and net profit rose 515% to 75.15 trillion won. The board approved a 30 trillion won cash dividend, roughly 4,601 won per share.
The semiconductor-focused Device Solutions division supplied most of the result, with 147.1 trillion won in revenue and 106.5 trillion won in operating profit. Samsung is one of the world's three largest memory suppliers. Heavy hyperscaler spending on AI infrastructure has created global memory shortages and pushed prices sharply higher.
The benefits were not spread evenly. The display business posted 8 trillion won in revenue and 1.1 trillion won in operating profit. The MX and Networks unit, which includes smartphones, lost 0.6 trillion won on 37.7 trillion won in sales. Higher memory costs have fed into pricier handsets this year, and Samsung is counting on a fourth-quarter lift from new flagship launches, including the Galaxy S26 series and the Galaxy Z Fold8 models.
The results arrived a day after SK hynix reported strong earnings. SK hynix also forecast that the memory shortage will deepen in fiscal 2027. Together, the two reports ease some market worries that AI chip earnings could lose momentum if the AI boom stalls on funding concerns. Samsung shares rose 2% in early Thursday trading in South Korea.
Samsung also announced a partnership with the French AI model developer Mistral AI during the quarter. The company plans to apply AI to its chip design and manufacturing operations to optimize them.
Why it matters: Memory supply and pricing are now a visible cost and planning variable for anyone building AI capacity, and two leading suppliers are signaling that tightness may persist into 2027. The earnings show strong current demand, but they say little about how long hyperscaler spending will continue.
TwinStack automated analysis, based on reporting by SiliconANGLE. Check the original for full details.