Samsung profits jump eightfold on AI memory chip demand in Q1 2026

Samsung Electronics Co. posted an operating profit for Q1 2026 that nearly eightfolded from a year earlier, beating market expectations and highlighting sustained demand for memory chips used in AI development. The results came as global market volatility persisted amid the conflict in the Middle East.

Profit surge and what drove it

Growth was led by cloud service providers, which accelerated orders for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and data-center chips used to run AI services. The trend supported both shipments and margins in Samsung’s memory business.

In Seoul, Samsung’s stock rose as much as 4.9% in early trading on Tuesday, April 7. SK Hynix also gained about 5.3%, as the earnings release eased concerns that the US-Iran conflict could curb AI hardware spending.

Key Q1 2026 figures

Preliminary Q1 2026 results showed operating profit of 57.2 trillion won (US$37.9 billion), up 755% year-on-year and a new record. The figure exceeded the consensus average of 39.3 trillion won.

Revenue was 133 trillion won, also above the average forecast of 116.8 trillion won.

Samsung said full financial results, including net income and segment details, would be released on April 30.

Analyst views and supply constraints

“The growth momentum is entirely from the memory-chip segment, and this momentum is stronger than market expectations,” said Sanjeev Rana, Head of Research at CLSA Securities Korea, in an interview with Bloomberg.

Rana added that the memory-chip segment could contribute nearly 90% of Samsung’s total operating profit, noting that supply of memory chips—HBM and DRAM—remains tight.

Samsung is one of three global leaders in memory chips, alongside SK Hynix and Micron Technology. As AI demand has surged, all three have increased HBM production to support Nvidia’s AI accelerators, tightening supply for standard memory chips.

Broader demand signals

Korea’s semiconductor exports rose 151.4% in March to a record $32.8 billion, according to government data, underscoring continued robust global demand for chips.

Outlook, pricing and AI-related demand

Morgan Stanley analysts Shawn Kim, Ryan Kim, Duan Liu and Cindy Huang wrote that Samsung is entering a “very strong-profit recovery cycle.” They also said the stock could still rise if the market adjusts expectations to the current growth pace, citing industry-wide capacity constraints at unprecedented levels.

Analysts said fears that AI tools—such as Google’s TurboQuant or Anthropic’s Claude Mythos—could reduce demand for current hardware are not expected to significantly affect Samsung’s growth.

Citigroup, in an April 2 note, said global DRAM prices rose 64% quarter-on-quarter. It forecast Samsung’s 2026 operating profit could reach 310 trillion won (US$206 billion) on strong AI inference demand. AI inference refers to the stage where an AI model processes data and produces results after training.

HBM4 commercialization and competitive context

Earlier this year, Samsung became the first company to commercialize the new HBM4 memory chip. The development is notable because Samsung had lagged behind SK Hynix in HBM in recent years due to technical challenges and delays in meeting standards.

Despite Samsung’s stock rising more than 120% last year, the gain still trails SK Hynix’s more than 270% surge.