Arya News - AI memory surge powers record USD $58.99 billion operating profit, well above market expectations.
SEOUL – Samsung Electronics appears to have overtaken Nvidia to post the world’s largest quarterly operating profit among major tech companies, reporting a record 89.4 trillion won ($58.6 billion) for the second quarter on booming demand for AI memory chips.
Samsung said Tuesday its preliminary operating profit for the April-June period surged 1,810.3 percent from a year earlier. Revenue jumped 129.3 percent on-year to an all-time high of 171 trillion won.
The operating profit also beat the market consensus of 84.16 trillion won compiled by Yonhap Infomax by 6.2 percent.
The latest figure marks a 56 percent jump from Samsung’s previous record of 57.2 trillion won set in the first quarter, when it became the first Korean company to top 50 trillion won in quarterly operating profit.
The second-quarter profit also exceeded Samsung’s combined operating profit of 82.9 trillion won for the three years from 2023 to 2025.
The result would put Samsung ahead of Nvidia’s previous record quarterly operating income of $53.5 billion for the fiscal first quarter ended April 26, as well as Apple’s recent peak, underscoring how sharply the global AI boom has shifted profit toward memory chipmakers.
Samsung generated more than twice its entire 2025 operating profit in the second quarter alone, extending a record-breaking streak that began late last year as surging AI server investment lifted prices for high-bandwidth memory, server DRAM and conventional memory chips.
The result is also notable because Samsung reflected provisions for special bonuses agreed with its labor union. Analysts estimate the bonus-related provisions, including retroactive payments for the first quarter, at around 15 trillion won to 19 trillion won. Excluding those provisions, Samsung’s quarterly operating profit likely would have exceeded 100 trillion won.
The chip division is believed to have accounted for the overwhelming majority of Samsung’s profit, although the company does not disclose divisional earnings in its preliminary guidance. Analysts estimate the memory business alone generated operating profit in the 90 trillion won range, helped by sharp price increases across DRAM and NAND.
With first-half operating profit now nearing 150 trillion won, analysts expect Samsung Electronics to easily surpass 350 trillion won in annual operating profit this year.
The earnings surprise comes as investors have grown more concerned that AI infrastructure spending by global tech companies may be nearing a peak. Samsung’s results suggest demand remains robust, at least for memory chips, as production of high-value AI components continues to tighten the supply of general-purpose DRAM and NAND.
Jung Min-gyu, an analyst at Sangsangin Securities, forecast Samsung’s annual revenue at 738.4 trillion won and operating profit at 372.9 trillion won, citing sustained data center demand despite growing cost pressure on device makers from higher memory prices.
“Memory price increases are adding cost pressure on set customers, but demand from data center clients remains strong, and large-scale purchases are expected to continue,” Jung said.
Kim Yang-paeng, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade, said the momentum is likely to continue through the end of the year, as companies have yet to report any meaningful pullback in sales and global investment remains steady.
Samsung is preparing large domestic investments, including new fabs in Yongin and other regions, as memory makers race to expand capacity amid the AI-driven supercycle.
Despite the record earnings, Samsung shares fell sharply Tuesday, as investors questioned whether the AI-driven memory boom can continue at the current pace. SK hynix also dropped, reflecting broader profit-taking in Korean chip stocks after a steep rally.
The company will release its full second-quarter earnings report later this month, including detailed results by business division.