Headquarters of Samsung in Mountain View, California, on October 28, 2018.
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South Korea’s Samsung Electronics expects its earnings to triple within the remaining three months of final yr, reaching a report excessive, as reminiscence costs surge amid booming demand tied to synthetic intelligence.
The world’s largest reminiscence chipmaker estimated that working revenue reached 20 trillion received and consolidated gross sales of about 93 trillion received within the fourth quarter, in accordance with an earnings steering launched Thursday.
The revenue projections mark a big enchancment from a yr earlier and would surpass Samsung’s long-standing report of 17.6 trillion received set within the third quarter of 2018.
The surge comes as chipmakers like Nvidia clamor for restricted provides of reminiscence chips used for AI purposes.
As reminiscence firms prioritize capability to fulfill that profitable demand, it has contributed to a scarcity throughout the broader market, affecting chips utilized in private computer systems and cell gadgets.
“The reminiscence market has entered a ‘Hyper-Bull’ part, with present situations eclipsing the historic 2018 peak. Provider leverage is at an all-time excessive, pushed by an insatiable demand for AI and server capability,” Counterpoint Analysis stated in a report Wednesday.
The market watcher estimates reminiscence costs surged 40%-50% within the remaining quarter of 2025, and expects comparable good points within the first quarter of 2026, adopted by a roughly 20% rise within the second quarter.
Whereas these market dynamics have pushed manufacturing prices for many shopper electronics makers, they’ve been a boon for reminiscence giants like Samsung and its essential opponents within the house, SK Hynix and Micron.
Samsung shares have gained over 145% over the previous 12 months and have been up 0.5% on Thursday in uneven buying and selling.
The patron tech big continues to path SK Hynix in high-bandwidth reminiscence (HBM) chips utilized in AI processors like these from Nvidia. Increasing its HBM manufacturing capability is predicted to be a significant focus for the corporate within the new yr.
Samsung is about to launch its audited earnings and maintain its quarterly earnings name later this month.