Samsung Electronics estimates profits nearly triple as memory prices soar

South Korea Samsung Electronics expects its profits to triple in the last three months of last year, reaching a record level, as memory prices rise amid booming demand linked to artificial intelligence.

The world’s largest memory chip maker estimated its operating profit reached 20 trillion won and consolidated sales of around 93 trillion won in the fourth quarter, according to its earnings forecast. released THURSDAY.

The profit forecast marks a significant improvement from a year earlier and would surpass Samsung’s long-standing record of 17.6 trillion won set in the third quarter of 2018.

The increase comes as chipmakers like Nvidia are pushing for limited quantities of memory chips used for AI applications.

As memory makers prioritize the ability to meet this lucrative demand, it has contributed to a market-wide shortage, affecting chips used in personal computers and mobile devices.

“The memory market has entered a ‘hyper-bullish’ phase, with current conditions eclipsing 2018’s historic peak. Vendor leverage is at an all-time high, driven by insatiable demand for AI and server capacity,” Counterpoint Research said in a report released Wednesday.

The market watcher estimates that memory prices jumped 40% to 50% in the final quarter of 2025 and expects similar gains in the first quarter of 2026, followed by a rise of around 20% in the second quarter.

Although these market dynamics have driven up manufacturing costs for most consumer electronics makers, they have been a boon for memory giants like Samsung and its main competitors in the space, SK Hynix and Micron.

Shares of Samsung have gained more than 145% in the past 12 months and were up 0.5% on Thursday in choppy trading.

The consumer technology giant continues to follow SK Hynix in the area of ​​high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in AI processors like those from Nvidia. Expanding HBM’s production capacity is expected to be a major focus of the company in the new year.

Samsung is expected to release its audited results and hold its quarterly earnings conference call later this month.