Samsung headquarters in Mountain View, California, October 28, 2018.
Smith Collection/gado | Archive photos | Getty Images
Samsung Electronics on Thursday reported a more than tripling of fourth-quarter revenue, hitting a new record and beating analysts’ estimates, as a shortage of memory chips and strong demand for artificial intelligence servers boosted earnings.
Here are Samsung’s fourth-quarter results compared to the LSEG SmartEstimate, which is based on more accurate analyst estimates:
- Input: KRW 93.8 trillion ($65.58 billion) vs. KRW 93.318 trillion expected
- Operating profit: 20.1 trillion won vs. 20.018 trillion won expected
The South Korean tech giant’s quarterly revenue rose nearly 24% year-over-year to a new record. In addition, its operating income increased by more than 200% in one year.
The revenue exceeded Samsung’s multi-year record of 17.6 trillion won set in the third quarter of 2018, while matching Samsung’s own profit. management about 20 trillion won.
Samsung, South Korea’s largest company by market capitalization, is a leading supplier of memory chips, semiconductor foundry services and smartphones.
The company said in its earnings report that its memory business helped boost revenue, setting all-time highs for quarterly revenue and operating profit, driven by overall market price gains, sales of high-bandwidth memory and other high-value-added products.
High-bandwidth memory, or HBM, is the type of memory used in chipsets for AI data centers, and Samsung has focused more on the technology in its Device Solutions (DS) division over the past year.
AI chipset makers such as Nvidia have claimed limited supplies of HBM, with demand exceeding supply.
As memory companies prioritized capacity to meet this lucrative demand, it contributed to shortages in the broader market and drove up the price of chips used in personal computers and mobile devices.
That bodes well for memory giants like Samsung, as well as rival SK Hynix reported record profits on Wednesday.
“Looking ahead to Q1 2026, the DS division expects further growth in AI and server demand, leading to more opportunities for structural growth,” the company said.
“In response, the division will continue to focus on profitability with a strong focus on high-performance products,” he added.
Smartphones
Samsung’s mobile experience and networking business, which develops and sells smartphones, tablets, wearables and other devices, posted weak fourth-quarter results.
Operating income at the division fell to 1.9 trillion won, down 9.5% from a year ago and more than 45% from the previous quarter.
According to the company, these costs are due to “reduced flight effects” of new smartphone models and intense competition in the market.
Looking ahead to the first quarter of 2026, Samsung has said that it plans to boost its AI smartphone power by introducing what it calls “Agentic AI experiences” with the launch of the upcoming Galaxy S26 series.
Samsung also said it is focused on ensuring sustainable profitability through efforts to expand flagship sales, optimize resources and strengthen supply stability amid global competitive pressure.