Samsung Forecasts Record 57.2 Trillion Won Q1 Profit

Samsung Electronics forecasted a record operating profit of 57.2 trillion won for the first quarter of 2026, an eightfold increase from the 6.69 trillion won reported in the same period a year earlier. The projection, announced Tuesday in a regulatory filing, surpasses analyst estimates of 40 to 42 trillion won and nearly triples the company's previous quarterly high of 20 trillion won from the fourth quarter of 2025. The figure also exceeds Samsung's total operating profit for all of 2025.

The South Korean technology giant attributed the surge primarily to robust demand for memory chips amid the global artificial intelligence boom. Revenue is expected to reach 133 trillion won, a 68 percent rise year over year and the first time quarterly sales have topped 100 trillion won. High-bandwidth memory chips, essential for AI accelerators used by companies such as Nvidia and AMD, have seen supply shortages that drove prices higher. Industry research firm TrendForce projected that contract DRAM prices will increase by more than 50 percent in the current quarter due to ongoing constraints.

Analysts estimated that Samsung's Device Solutions division, which includes memory chips,...