Seoul: Samsung Electronics Co. on Tuesday announced an unprecedented first-quarter operating profit exceeding 50 trillion won (US$33.1 billion), marking a historic achievement for the company. The surge in profits, driven by robust demand for premium memory chips from the burgeoning artificial intelligence (AI) sector, has set a new benchmark for the South Korean tech giant.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Samsung Electronics projected an operating profit of 57.2 trillion won for the January-March period, a significant leap from 6.61 trillion won during the same period last year. This figure surpassed average market expectations by 36.7 percent, as reported by a survey conducted by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.
Samsung's financial performance for 2025 saw an annual operating profit of 43.6 trillion won, with the fourth quarter alone contributing 20 trillion won, which was, until now, the highest quarterly figure. The first quarter of 2026 saw revenue soar by 68.1 percent year-on-year to 133 trillion won, crossing the 100 trillion won mark for the first time and setting a new quarterly record. However, net earnings data were not disclosed.
While Samsung did not provide a detailed breakdown of earnings by business division, the device solutions (DS) unit, including the semiconductor segment, likely accounted for a substantial portion of the profits. The company has been expanding its supply of sixth-generation high bandwidth memory, HBM4, to meet the rising demand for AI infrastructure. Analysts estimate the DS unit posted an operating profit of approximately 50 trillion won in the first quarter, more than tripling from the prior quarter's 16.4 trillion won.
Conversely, Samsung's device experience (DX) segment, which encompasses mobile and TV businesses, appears to have been impacted by increasing production costs. The mobile business's operating profit is estimated to have declined to around 2 trillion won, compared to 4.3 trillion won in the same quarter last year.
Looking ahead, analysts forecast sustained growth for Samsung Electronics throughout 2026. Korea Investment and Securities Co. anticipates an annual operating profit of 302 trillion won, up 50 percent from an earlier forecast of 202 trillion won. In a report, Chae Min-sook of Korea Investment and Securities highlighted the expectation of long-term contracts with major hyperscale clients as a driver of continued robust earnings.
Meanwhile, KB Securities Co. projects an annual operating profit of 327 trillion won, marking a 49 percent increase from its previous outlook. The firm attributes this optimistic forecast to the escalating demand for memory products amid the AI boom, with global data center operators consuming 60 percent of Samsung's DRAM and NAND shipments. Analyst Kim Dong-won noted the significance of AI infrastructure investments in driving memory demand.
Samsung Electronics is scheduled to release its detailed earnings report later this month.