SEOUL, April 07 (AJP) - Its record-smashing first-quarter earnings that nearly matched the full-year income of its previous peak in 2018 place Samsung Electronics among the world’s top five big tech firms and suggest it could even challenge Nvidia in operating profit if the memory supercycle extends into next year.
The company on Tuesday estimated its first-quarter operating profit at 57.2 trillion won ($38.0 billion), nearly tripling its previous quarterly high in the October–December period and surpassing its full-year 2025 income of 43.6 trillion won. Revenue reached 133 trillion won.
The latest figures place Samsung alongside the world’s most dominant tech firms.
Based on recent quarterly results, Apple leads with operating profit of $50.9 billion, followed by Nvidia with $44.3 billion and Microsoft with $38.3 billion. At current exchange rates, Samsung outperforms Google’s parent Alphabet, which reported quarterly operating profit of $35.93 billion.
"Samsung is enjoying a dual effect in the memory market," said Lee Jong-hwan, a professor of system semiconductor engineering at Sangmyung University.
"As the company shifted its production capacity toward High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), the supply of legacy DRAM naturally decreased, driving up prices significantly amid strong demand."
Analysts projected that the bulk of first-quarter profit would come from semiconductors, or the Device Solutions (DS) division, even before the results overwhelmingly beat expectations.
Daishin Securities had projected DS operating profit at 41.8 trillion won, out of a total estimated company profit of 45.2 trillion won. Kiwoom Securities offered a similar outlook, estimating the chip division’s profit at 41.3 trillion won. Meritz Securities presented the most bullish domestic forecast, expecting the DS unit to generate 48.9 trillion won in profit—driven by 50.3 trillion won from the memory sector alone—out of a total projected profit of 53.9 trillion won.
Citi projected Samsung’s total operating profit to reach 51 trillion won in early April, a sharp increase from Goldman Sachs’ earlier estimate of 40.3 trillion won in March.
The rush into high-bandwidth memory (HBM) to train AI systems and run hyperscale data centers has fueled demand across both premium and legacy chips, sending prices sharply higher and giving suppliers stronger pricing power in long-term contracts.
DRAM contract prices soared 90 to 95 percent quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter, while NAND prices rose around 60 percent, according to TrendForce, which estimates 58 to 63 percent on-quarter gains in the second quarter and 70 to 75 percent for NAND flash. Samsung is the dominant supplier of both DRAM and NAND flash.
"As global big tech companies seek to develop their own custom AI chips, TSMC’s limited capacity will inevitably lead to spillover orders for Samsung," Lee said. "As the only tech giant handling both memory and foundry businesses, Samsung is entering a phase where both sectors can expand simultaneously."
Analysts emphasize that this surge is a direct result of explosive growth in AI infrastructure.
"We assume that the year-on-year growth rate of capital expenditure by big tech companies will be revised upward to 92 percent, in which case DRAM demand growth this year will reach 20.3 percent," said Song Myung-sup, an analyst at iM Securities.
This immense profitability provides a critical buffer for Samsung’s aggressive investment strategy, with capital expenditure projected to reach 114.3 trillion won by 2026.
Even amid geopolitical tensions, the structural stability of the company’s core projects remains intact. "Considering the stability of payment collection for group captive projects, the actual risk of bad debt is limited," said Ryu Tae-hwan, an analyst at Eugene Investment & Securities.
According to market consensus data from FnGuide, Samsung’s total annual operating profit for 2026 is projected to reach 227.3 trillion won. Some estimates have been revised upward following the first-quarter results.
KB Securities projected Samsung’s operating profit at 327 trillion won this year and 488 trillion won in 2027, closely chasing Nvidia’s 357 trillion won and 485 trillion won, respectively, in the brokerage's estimate.
Paled in comparison, Korea’s home appliance rival LG Electronics also reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter results, highlighting the resilience of the country’s tech sector.
The company estimated operating profit at 1.67 trillion won ($1.24 billion), up 32.9 percent on-year and well above market consensus.
Revenue rose 4.4 percent to a quarterly record of 23.73 trillion won, supported by demand for premium home appliances and steady growth in its vehicle components division.
Both Samsung and LG will release finalized results later this month. Shares of Samsung Electronics closed Tuesday up 1.45 percent at 195,900 won on Tuesday. Cross-town memory rival SK hynix also saw strong gains, jumping 3.16 percent to finish at 914,000 won.
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