Samsung set for 18-fold Q2 profit surge on AI memory

Samsung Electronics is poised to announce another quarter of historic profits, driven by soaring demand for memory chips used in artificial intelligence applications. The company is expected to release preliminary guidance for the second quarter on Tuesday, July 7, with analysts projecting an operating profit of approximately 86 trillion won, a nearly eighteen-fold increase from the 4.7 trillion won recorded in the same period last year. This would mark the third consecutive quarter of record operating profit for the world's largest memory chipmaker.

The surge is fueled by a persistent global shortage of memory chips, as demand for AI infrastructure continues to outpace supply. While specialized high-bandwidth memory for AI accelerators is a key driver, robust growth is also coming from conventional DRAM and NAND memory. Analysts note that the expansion of agentic AI, which performs complex, multi-step tasks, requires significantly more working memory and storage capacity in servers compared to earlier AI models focused primarily on training.

According to analysts at Citigroup, average selling prices for DRAM memory rose by 44 percent in the second quarter compared to the...