Samsung Q3 Operating Profit Hits Record High, Surges Nearly 9-Fold; Expects 2027 AI Memory Demand to Further Outstrip Supply

TradingKey - On October 29, Samsung Electronics released its financial results for the third quarter of 2026. Driven by growing demand for AI chips and memory, the company's quarterly operating profit set a record high.

According to the earnings report, Samsung's third-quarter revenue reached 195.3 trillion Korean won, up 14% quarter-on-quarter, setting another record high for a single quarter. Operating profit reached 107.4 trillion Korean won, approximately 8.8 times that of the same period last year, making Samsung the first tech company globally to surpass 100 trillion Korean won in single-quarter operating profit. The semiconductor Device Solutions (DS) division made the most prominent contribution, with quarterly revenue of 147.1 trillion Korean won and operating profit of 106.5 trillion Korean won, as both revenue and operating profit for the memory business set new records. Samsung stated that HBM4 sales expanded significantly, while server SSD demand remained strong.

During the earnings conference that day, Samsung further raised its outlook for the AI memory market. The company expects global AI infrastructure capital expenditures to reach an all-time high in 2027, with growth in AI-related memory demand outpacing industry supply even more significantly, resulting in tighter supply-demand conditions than in 2026. The company plans to continue expanding sales of HBM, server DRAM, and SSDs, while securing part of long-term demand through multi-year supply contracts.

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, Samsung expects next-generation CPU and GPU platforms to continue driving server memory demand, while the expansion of personal AI agent services will boost demand for QLC SSDs. The foundry business is expected to achieve double-digit revenue growth in the fourth quarter and expand AI- and HPC-related revenue in 2027 by leveraging advanced 4nm and 2nm processes, with its new plant in Taylor, Texas, US, also scheduled to begin operations.

Regarding capital expenditures, Samsung expects full-year CapEx for 2026 to reach approximately 84.4 trillion Korean won, with the semiconductor DS division accounting for about 76.8 trillion Korean won, primarily dedicated to new wafer fabs and capacity construction for AI and HPC. As Samsung further expands investments in HBM4, server DRAM, and advanced processes, the market will continue to focus on AI memory supply and demand, HBM shipments, and whether capital expenditures can be sustainably converted into revenue and profit growth.