Samsung's Operating Profit Hit a Record $80 Billion. Like Micron's Memory Prices, Its Growth Is Slowing.

Samsung Electronics (OTC:SSNLF) is still setting profit records. Its preliminary results, released early Thursday in Seoul, put third-quarter operating profit at around 107.4 trillion won, or about $80 billion.

That's up 20% from the second quarter, when Samsung set its previous record of 89.5 trillion won. And it's almost nine times the 12.2 trillion won the company made a year ago. Samsung had never earned over 100 trillion won in one quarter before.

Ahead of the report, I argued that the number to worry about for Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) was a profit figure back around the second quarter's level. Samsung didn't get close to that.

Micron shares gained around 4% on Wednesday to $1,088, before Samsung's results came out. This puts the memory stock about 13% under its 52-week high of $1,255 as of this writing.

Samsung's number suggests memory prices kept climbing through September, but more slowly than earlier this year.

Image source: Micron.

A fourth straight record

The Korean tech company's preliminary report shows just consolidated sales and operating profit. The division breakdown comes with full results on Oct. 29.

But the chip unit likely makes up almost all of it. Korean industry insiders estimate that Samsung's chip division made about as much operating profit as the whole company did, or a bit more, as its phone and device businesses struggled with surging parts costs.

Showing how quickly this boom built, Samsung's operating profit has now set a record four quarters in a row: 20.1 trillion won in the fourth quarter of 2025, 57.2 trillion won in the first quarter of 2026, 89.5 trillion won in the second quarter, and 107.4 trillion won now. But the sequential gains have dropped every time. Profit almost tripled from the fourth quarter to the first, then climbed by 56% in the April-to-June period and by 20% from July through September. Put simply, Samsung is still growing fast, just not at the rate it was earlier this year.

What does it say about memory prices?

This slowdown looks a lot like what Micron posted last week. In its fiscal 2026 fourth quarter, which ended Sept. 3, Micron's DRAM revenue rose to a record $39.8 billion, over four times the year-ago number and 27% above fiscal Q3. DRAM was around 73% of all sales.

But most of that sequential gain came from price, and the price hikes are slowing. Micron said DRAM prices rose in the high-teens percentage range from the previous quarter, after climbing in the low-60s percentage range in fiscal Q3.

Micron sees more of the same. Management forecast record fiscal first-quarter revenue of around $61.5 billion, up about 13% over fiscal Q4, and said it expects price hikes to slow as fiscal 2027 goes on.

Samsung also expected supply to stay tight when it posted its second-quarter results in July, pointing to spending on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.

"Despite efforts to increase production, supply constraints are expected to continue," it said in its July 30 release.

Of course, Samsung's July-to-September quarter mostly overlaps the period Micron has already reported, not the fiscal first quarter it's guiding for now, which started Sept. 4. So Samsung's record mainly confirms that memory prices held up through the summer. It might not say much about Micron's current quarter.

Micron stock still trades like the boom will end

Micron's management seems even more upbeat than Samsung. "As strong as fiscal 2026 was, we expect fiscal 2027 to be even better," CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said in his prepared remarks for the Sept. 30 earnings call. He added that Micron expects memory and storage markets to be far tighter in fiscal 2027 and 2028 than in 2026.

The stock's price doesn't show much of that confidence. At $1,088, the stock trades at around 6 times earnings, using analysts' per-share estimates for fiscal 2027, which is already underway. Even against fiscal 2026's earnings of $74.33 per share, which were well under what Micron is making now, the stock trades at around 15 times earnings. And at those levels, investors arguably expect these profits could drop sharply at some point, when the industry adds enough new supply.

Does Samsung's record change the case for Micron stock? Not much, in my view. It makes Micron's $61.5 billion guidance look safer, and it fits what management has said about tight supply. But investors have given the stock a low valuation because of doubts over how long these conditions last, and Samsung's preliminary report says nothing about 2028.

Still, at this price, I think Micron stock is worth a look for investors who share management's view of 2027 and 2028.

Daniel Sparks and his clients do not have positions in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Micron Technology. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.