Samsung posts record quarterly profit as AI memory chip demand surges

Samsung Electronics confirmed third-quarter operating profit of 107.4 trillion won (about $80 billion), up nearly ninefold from a year earlier and the first time any tech company has topped 100 trillion won in a quarter. Revenue hit a record 195.3 trillion won. The chip division earned 106.5 trillion won, about 99% of the total, on soaring HBM4, server DRAM and server SSD sales, while the phone and appliance unit lost 0.8 trillion won as memory costs squeezed margins. Net profit of 75.2 trillion won missed estimates, and shares fell about 5% in Seoul. Samsung expects AI infrastructure spending to push memory demand well beyond supply in 2027 and approved a 30 trillion won quarterly dividend.