Samsung is expected to report a major jump in third-quarter operating profit, driven by strong AI demand. However, analysts have cut forecasts by nearly 8% since late August.
As one of the three companies that control over 90% of the world’s RAM supply, Samsung has greatly benefited from the current RAM crisis. Combined with the strengthening won, Samsung is expected to post operating profit of around 106.1 trillion won, or around $79.1 billion USD, for the July-September quarter.
This would be up 12.17 trillion won from the same period last year, and Samsung’s fourth consecutive quarter of record operating profit. This really shows how the prolonged memory shortage, as demand for AI infrastructure grows, is helping Samsung right now.
Chipmakers expect this shortage to last into next year, and likely into 2028. So all of those price hikes that you’ve seen recently, they’re going to be nothing compared to what we see next year and the year after.
Samsung’s memory-chip operating profit margin is expected to hit 76%
In the third quarter, Samsung’s memory-chip operating profit margin is expected to be around 76%, flat from the preceding quarter, according to estimates by SK Securities analyst Han Dong-hee.
Samsung and other memory-chip suppliers have been seeking to lock in customers with longer-term contracts. This means less steep price increases in return for guaranteed supply. As a result, TrendForce expects conventional DRAM contract prices to rise 10% to 15% in the fourth quarter, compared to the previous quarter. That’s a pretty dramatic slowdown from the surge of around 60% in the second quarter.
While RAM in products on shelves today isn’t going up, future products are getting more expensive RAM, and as always, that cost is being pushed onto the consumer. Lately, we’ve seen price increases on the Pixel 10a and the Galaxy S26 series, months after they were announced and available to buy.
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