Samsung’s logo is displayed at the company’s pavilion during Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelona, Spain, on March 5, 2025. Samsung is South Korea’s largest chaebol and a global leader in information technology, consumer electronics, semiconductors and smartphones. (Photo by Joan Cros/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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Shares of South Korean technology giant Samsung Electronics ended Thursday’s session 4.13% lower. The stock had fallen as much as 5% earlier after Samsung released third-quarter results that were broadly in line with analyst expectations.
Samsung’s third-quarter performance compared with LSEG SmartEstimates, which place greater weight on projections from analysts with stronger forecasting records, was as follows:
- Revenue: 195.25 trillion won ($124 billion) versus 195.79 trillion won expected
- Operating profit: 107.44 trillion won versus 107.66 trillion won expected
Revenue climbed 126.88% from the same period a year earlier and 13.85% from the previous quarter. Operating profit surged 783.11% year over year.
Samsung also declared 30 trillion won in third-quarter cash dividends, equal to 4,601 won for each common and preferred share.
For the full year, the company expects to return an additional 55 trillion to 75 trillion won to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks. The board is scheduled to determine the total shareholder return and detailed implementation plans at a meeting in late January 2027.
Samsung said it was the first technology company worldwide to exceed 100 trillion won in quarterly operating profit. It also reported record revenue and earnings for a fourth consecutive quarter.
The semiconductor division generated 147.1 trillion won in revenue and 106.5 trillion won in operating profit, fueled by strong demand for memory chips used in artificial intelligence applications.
Samsung’s memory unit likewise delivered its best-ever quarterly revenue and operating profit, helped by the rapid expansion of HBM4 sales and increasing demand for server solid-state drives.
Even so, Josh Gilbert, APAC lead analyst at investment platform eToro, said the figures did little to excite investors and failed to spark a stronger market response.
The market still was not impressed.
Josh Gilbert
APAC Lead Analyst, eToro
“Investors have been so spoiled by the AI trade that a record result is now viewed as the minimum expectation rather than something worth celebrating,” Gilbert said. He noted that Samsung’s chip operations generated almost all of its third-quarter operating profit, underscoring the company’s increasing dependence on memory products.
“Despite the narrative around Samsung as a diversified giant, shareholders today are effectively holding a memory company with a smartphone business attached,” Gilbert said, adding that the company’s performance is now closely tied to memory pricing.
Samsung expects spending on AI infrastructure to accelerate in 2027, a trend that could push demand higher and place additional pressure on memory supplies.
The company also intends to expand sales of HBM, the high-performance memory used in AI processors, as well as other memory products designed for servers and data storage.
During the third quarter, Samsung Electronics and five affiliates announced a combined $1 billion investment in KKR-backed Helix Digital Infrastructure. Samsung Electronics will contribute $500 million, while its affiliates will provide the remainder.
Samsung also unveiled a partnership with French artificial intelligence startup Mistral AI to apply AI technology to semiconductor processes, including chip design and manufacturing. The South Korean technology group additionally led Mistral’s Series D funding round.
