Samsung profit surges over eight-fold to beat estimates as AI boom fuels memory chip crunch

The Samsung exhibition stand features the prominent ''A new era of mobile agentic AI'' slogan by the South Korean company Samsung Electronics. Joan Cros | Nurphoto | Samsung Electronics reported an over eight-fold increase in first-quarter operating profits on Thursday, hitting a new record and beating analysts' estimates on the explosive growth of its chip business. Here are Samsung's first-quarter results compared with LSEG SmartEstimate, which is weighted toward forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate: Revenue : 133.9 trillion Korean won ($89.96 billion) vs. 132.69 trillion won expected Operating profit : 57.2 trillion won vs. 55.28 trillion won expected The South Korean technology giant's quarterly profit climbed more than 750% from a year earlier to a fresh record. The company also posted record revenue, up about 70% year over year. The profits came in line with Samsung's own estimates of 57.2 trillion won and exceeded its full-year 2025 profits of 43.6 trillion won. The earnings extend momentum from the final quarter of last year , when Samsung surpassed its prior record of 17.6 trillion won set in the third quarter of 2018. Samsung's record earnings came on the strength of its chip business. Besides its smartphone business and semiconductor foundry services, the firm is a major producer of memory chips. …