Samsung Q3 profit jumps nearly nine-fold as AI memory boom lifts chip earnings

SEOUL, Oct 8 (Reuters) – Samsung Electronics on Thursday projected a nearly nine-fold jump in third-quarter operating profit from a year earlier, beating analysts’ estimates as booming demand for artificial intelligence chips drove strong memory earnings.

The world’s largest memory chipmaker estimated an operating profit of 107.4 trillion won ($80.17 billion) for the July-September period, compared with an LSEG SmartEstimate of 106.1 trillion won, a regulatory filing showed.

Samsung’s fourth consecutive quarter of record operating profit, up from 12.17 trillion won a year earlier, underscores how soaring demand for AI infrastructure has outstripped memory chip supply growth, a gap expected to persist into 2027.

Prices have soared due to the tight supply of conventional DRAM and NAND chips as well as growing demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM), essential for processing vast amounts of data for AI applications.

Third-quarter revenue would likely rise 127% to 195 trillion won from a year earlier, Samsung said.

The company is expected to release detailed results, including a breakdown of earnings by business division, later this month.

($1 = 1,339.5700 won)

(Reporting by Joyce Lee and Heekyong Yang; Editing by Sonali Paul)

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