![[Seoul=Yonhap News] Reporter Hwang Jun-seon = Samsung Electronics announced on the 7th its preliminary Q2 earnings on a consolidated basis for this year, with revenue of 171 trillion won and operating profit of 89.4 trillion won. Revenue increased by 129.31% compared to the same period last year (74.57 trillion won), and operating profit surged by 1,810.26% from 4.68 trillion won in the same period. The photo shows the Samsung Electronics Seocho headquarters in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on that day. July 7, 2026. hwang@newsis.com /Photo=Hwang Jun-seon](https://thumb.mt.co.kr/cdn-cgi/image/f=avif/21/2026/10/2026100806522773652_1.jpg)
Riding the 'memory supercycle (period of extreme boom),' Samsung Electronics became the first Korean company to achieve quarterly operating profit in the 100th trillion won range. It surpassed its previous quarter's results (89.4924 trillion won), setting a new record for four consecutive quarters since Q4 last year.
Samsung Electronics announced on the 8th its preliminary Q3 2026 consolidated revenue of 195 trillion won and operating profit of 107.4 trillion won. Revenue increased by 126.6% and operating profit by 782.5% year-on-year. Both revenue and operating profit are all-time highs. Cumulative revenue surpassed 500 trillion won. Operating profit also exceeded market expectations (106 trillion won) by approximately 1 trillion won.
Semiconductors were clearly the main driver of the record-high results. It is estimated that the majority of operating profit was generated from the memory division. In particular, with HBM4 (6th-generation high-bandwidth memory) sales for Nvidia's next-generation AI platform 'Vera Rubin' being fully reflected starting this quarter, it appears to have contributed significantly to performance.
The upward trend in DRAM prices also continued. Market research firm TrendForce analyzed that general-purpose DRAM contract prices rose by 13% to 18% compared to the previous quarter in Q3 this year. As the production share of HBM4 expands, supply capacity for general-purpose DRAM has decreased, making supply and demand even tighter.
The foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) business is estimated to have improved its loss margin. Samsung Electronics' HBM4 features a base die based on its own 4-nanometer (nm; 1 nm = one-billionth of a meter) process. As HBM4 production increases, the utilization rate of the foundry also improves structurally. In addition, it has fully ramped up Yangsan for Nvidia's AI inference-dedicated chip 'Groq3.'
On the other hand, the DX (Device eXperience) division, which handles finished product businesses, appears to have recorded losses for two consecutive quarters due to increased cost burdens from rising memory prices.
Meanwhile, preliminary earnings are estimated results based on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adopted in Korea and are provided to facilitate investor convenience. Samsung Electronics is scheduled to hold an earnings announcement conference call at the end of this month.
in INDUSTRY
