Samsung Q1 Profit Hits Record 57.2 Trillion Won

Samsung Electronics reported record first-quarter operating profit of 57.2 trillion won ($38.4 billion) on Thursday, a more than 750 percent increase from the year-earlier period, fueled by surging demand for memory chips amid the global AI boom.

The results, released after the close of South Korean markets, marked the company's highest quarterly figures to date. Revenue climbed 69 percent year-on-year to 133.9 trillion won, surpassing analyst expectations. Net profit reached 47.1 trillion won. The semiconductor division, known as Device Solutions, drove nearly all the gains, posting 53.7 trillion won in operating profit, up from about 1.1 trillion won a year earlier. That unit's sales hit 81.7 trillion won, a 225 percent jump, with memory products contributing 74.8 trillion won.

Executives attributed the performance to tight supply and rising prices for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips essential for AI data centers. A boom in AI infrastructure from companies like Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft and Nvidia has outpaced production capacity. "Our supply falls far short of customer demand," said Kim Jaejune, a Samsung memory chip executive, during the post-earnings call. He noted that...