Samsung Electronics earned nearly 107 trillion won from its semiconductor business alone, setting a new all-time high for the fourth consecutive quarter. Together with SK hynix, which had previously announced an operating profit of 83 trillion won that exceeded market expectations, this effectively dispelled so-called “semiconductor peak-out” theories raised by some quarters.
Samsung Electronics posted third-quarter consolidated revenue of 195.2532 trillion won and operating profit of 107.4405 trillion won on the 29th. Samsung Electronics is the first tech company in the world to break through 100 trillion won in quarterly operating profit. With astronomical amounts of cash piling up, net cash—cash assets minus borrowings and other liabilities—as of the end of the third quarter increased by 30 trillion won over three months to 197.6 trillion won.
The semiconductor (DS) division alone generated revenue of 147.1 trillion won and operating profit of 106.5 trillion won. In Q3 alone, the semiconductor businesses of “Samsung-Nix” (Samsung Electronics + SK hynix) earned approximately 190 trillion won in operating profit.
The operating margin for Samsung Electronics’ DS division reached 72.4%. Meanwhile, the finished products (DX) division struggled due to rising costs and intensifying global competition, recording an operating loss of 800 billion won on revenue of 52.1 trillion won, marking its second consecutive quarter in the red. The operating profits of subsidiaries Harman and Samsung Display were 600 billion won and 1.1 trillion won, respectively.
Future performance outlooks are also bright. As the shortage of memory semiconductors deepens further, customers are lining up. Following SK hynix’s announcement the previous day that it had secured demand through Long-Term Agreements (LTAs) for more than half of its total production capacity by 2028, Samsung Electronics announced on the same day that the possibility of achieving LTAs covering 60–70% of its production capacity by 2030 has become increasingly tangible.
The previously announced third-quarter cash dividend of 30 trillion won was set at 4,601 won per common share and 4,601 won per preferred share, with payment scheduled for November 27.
However, the market showed strong disappointment as no additional shareholder return policy was unveiled.
On that day, Samsung Electronics shares plunged over 4% despite record-high results. In response, Samsung Electronics stated, “The board of directors will finalize and announce the next shareholder return policy, the final scale of shareholder returns for the remaining resources in 2026 (up to 75 trillion won), and specific execution plans at its meeting in late January 2027.”
in INDUSTRY
