Seoul: Samsung Electronics on Thursday projected a three-fold jump in fourth-quarter operating profit from a year earlier to a record high as tight supply and a surge in artificial intelligence-driven demand stoked prices for conventional memory chips. The results highlight how chip prices have rocketed as chipmakers scramble to keep up with demand for memory chips used in servers, personal computers and mobile devices to meet AI needs.
The world’s largest memory chipmaker estimated an operating profit of 20 trillion won ($13.82 billion) for the October-December period, beating an LSEG SmartEstimate of 18 trillion won and up from 6.49 trillion won a year earlier, a regulatory filing showed. The operating profit is a new quarterly record, topping its previous high of 17.6 trillion won in the third quarter of 2018. Samsung shares closed down 1.6% after rising as much as 2.5% to a record high earlier in the session, with investors reaping profits from a 155% jump over the past year.
