Samsung's Q1 Profit Surge: AI Smartphones Offset Chip Weakness

Samsung beats profit and revenue targets thanks to strong AI smartphone sales

Samsung beats profit and revenue targets thanks to strong AI smartphone sales Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. posted a stronger-than-expected first-quarter profit today, with weakness in its core memory chip business offset by strong sales of its newest flagship smartphones. The company, which is the world's largest maker of memory chips and the second-largest supplier of smartphones, reported a net profit of 8.223 trillion won (around $5.74 billion), up 22% from the same period last year and ahead of the 5.635 trillion won consensus estimate. It also delivered an operating profit of 6.68 trillion won, up just 1% from a year ago, with revenue coming to 79.14 trillion won, up 10% from last year and hitting a new quarterly high for the company. Both numbers came in just above the analyst's forecasts. Samsung said its semiconductor earnings fell on a sequential basis for a third-straight quarter. The company has been struggling to catch up with its main rival SK Hynix Inc., which supplies the vast majority of advanced high-bandwidth memory products to artificial intelligence chipmakers such as Nvidia Corp. That explains why revenue in the chip business fell 17% from a year earlier to 25.1 trillion won, while its operating profit came to 1.1 trillion won, down 42%. However, the company made up for it with smartphones. The company's mobile device and network business delivered an operating profit of 4.3 trillion won, up 23%, thanks to brisk sales of its new AI-powered Galaxy S25 handsets, which debuted in January. Samsung's other major business unit, the DX division, which includes televisions and home appliances, saw sales increase 28% to 51.7 trillion won, with operating profit coming to 4.7 trillion won. The company declined to provide an outlook for the current quarter, saying that the macroeconomic uncertainties caused by recent global trade tensions make it "difficult to predict future performance." Samsung's stock remained flat in early morning trading in South Korea. The shares have risen just over 4% in the year to date.

Samsung Q1 profit rises slightly as strong smartphone sales offset chip weakness By Investing.com

Investing.com-- Samsung (LON:0593xq) Electronics (KS:005930) on Wednesday reported a slight rise in first-quarter operating profit, driven by robust demand for memory chips and its flagship Galaxy smartphones, though weaker display earnings capped gains. The South Korean tech giant posted an operating profit of 6.7 trillion won ($4.7 billion) for the January-March quarter, up from 6.6 trillion won ($4.6 billion) a year earlier. Revenue climbed 10% to 79.1 trillion won, buoyed by strong sales in its Device Solutions (DS) and Mobile eXperience (MX) divisions. The MX division, which includes smartphones, posted a 43% quarterly sales jump to 37 trillion won, fueled by the launch of the AI-powered Galaxy S25 series. However, earnings for the memory chip business fell sharply to 1.1 trillion won from 1.9 trillion won a year ago, hurt by a decline in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) sales and export controls on HBM used in AI chips. Samsung Display Corp (SDC) also saw profit drop due to seasonal declines in small and medium-sized panels. For its Digital Appliances (DA) division, the company aims to increase sales of AI-driven, high-value products amid "ongoing uncertainties such as tariffs," the company said in earnings release.