Samsung flags better-than-expected rise in second-quarter profit as chip prices jump

By Joyce Lee and Heekyong Yang

SEOUL (Reuters) -Samsung Electronics estimated on Friday a more than 15-fold rise in its second-quarter operating profit, as rebounding semiconductor prices driven by the artificial intelligence boom lifted earnings from a low base a year ago.

The world’s largest memory chip and TV maker estimated its operating profit rose to 10.4 trillion won ($7.54 billion) in the quarter ended June 30, from 670 billion won a year earlier, the South Korean firm said in a short preliminary earnings statement.

The profit beat a 8.8 trillion won LSEG SmartEstimate, which is weighted toward forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate, and the quarter was its most profitable since the third quarter of 2022.

Revenue likely rose 23% in the second quarter from the same period a year earlier to 74 trillion won, Samsung (KS:) said.

Samsung’s key semiconductor division likely posted its second consecutive quarterly profit, improving on the first quarter, as memory chip prices keep rising from a mid-2022 to end-2023 trough that was caused by weak post-pandemic demand for gadgets that use the chips.

Explosive demand for high-end DRAM chips such as high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in AI chipsets, as well as chips used in data centre servers and gadgets that run AI services have helped buoy chip prices, analysts said.

During the second quarter, memory chip prices jumped by about 13% to 18% versus the previous quarter for DRAM chips used in tech devices and 15% to 20% for NAND Flash chips used for data storage, according to data provider TrendForce.

($1 = 1,379.8700 won)