Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) posted more than 100 trillion won in profit in the second quarter of this year, becoming the first company in the world to enter the era of quarterly operating profit exceeding 100 trillion won. Samsung dispelled concerns in some corners of the market over an artificial intelligence (AI) investment bubble and a chip price peak, confirming that the memory chip market is in a phase of structural high growth.
Samsung Electronics said Monday that second-quarter revenue reached 171 trillion won and operating profit came to 89.4 trillion won on a consolidated basis. Revenue and operating profit surged 129.3% and 1,810.3%, respectively, from the same period last year, setting a record high for the third consecutive quarter. The results were assessed as an earnings surprise, exceeding the financial investment industry consensus of 175.2137 trillion won in revenue and 84.7675 trillion won in operating profit.
Samsung's second-quarter operating profit is an unprecedented record in the history of companies worldwide. Converted into dollars, Samsung's second-quarter operating profit amounts to approximately $58.55 billion, far exceeding Nvidia's largest earnings of $53.5 billion in operating profit in the first quarter of fiscal 2027 (February to April 2026). It also easily surpassed the $50.8 billion in operating profit recorded by traditional big tech firm Apple (October to December 2025).
In particular, these preliminary results reflected provisions of approximately 15 trillion to 17 trillion won stemming from incentive funds (10.5% of business profit) agreed by Samsung Electronics' labor and management in May, which reduced operating profit. Taking this into account, Samsung's actual operating profit in the second quarter reaches approximately 104 trillion to 106 trillion won.
The investment industry expects Samsung Electronics to continue its record streak in quarterly operating profit through next year. This is based on the judgment that memory prices will continue to rise as global big tech firms pour astronomical funds into data center construction to secure dominance in the AI industry.
In the second half, Samsung's profitability is expected to improve further as shipments begin in earnest of sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM) HBM4, a high-value product mounted on Nvidia's next-generation AI accelerators. Samsung Electronics recorded 146.6 trillion won in operating profit through the first half, and profit exceeding 350 trillion won is expected for the full year.
"Samsung Electronics will continue its earnings improvement as its overwhelming memory production capacity, next-generation HBM technology ahead of competitors, and expansion of long-term agreements (LTA) come together," an industry official said.
