AI boom to bring world-first profit for Samsung unit

Samsung Electronics on Thursday projected its quarterly profit would top 100 trillion won, a world first for a technology company, estimating a nearly nine-fold jump in third-quarter earnings as booming demand for AI chips drove strong memory sales. The world's largest memory chipmaker estimated an operating profit of 107.4 trillion won, or US$80.17 billion, slightly ahead of an LSEG SmartEstimate of 106.1 trillion won. The forecast marks Samsung's fourth straight quarter of record operating profit, underscoring a deepening global memory chip shortage as AI infrastructure investment outpaces supply growth, which has driven chip prices up sharply. Samsung and Micron expect the imbalance to persist into 2028, although Chinese competition and a potential slowdown in AI spending pose risks to the longer-term earnings outlook. Samsung's shares moved sideways despite flagging another record profit, slipping 0.2 percent in early trade versus a 0.5 percent fall in the benchmark Kospi. Its share price has slumped more than 25 percent from a record high in June amid concerns about the durability of the AI boom. Analysts have also recently trimmed their forecasts due to the sharp appreciation of the won, which reduces the value of dollar-denominated overseas sales when converted into local currency. "The market's focus has shifted to whether...