Samsung has released its preliminary earnings guidance for the AprilโJune 2026 quarter, projecting an operating profit of KRW 89.4 trillion (approximately US$58.5 billion). The record-breaking estimate places the South Korean technology giant ahead of NVIDIA, whose latest reported quarterly operating profit stood at US$58.3 billion for the first quarter of 2026.
While NVIDIA is yet to announce its second-quarter financial results, Samsung's projected earnings currently make it the world's most profitable company on a quarterly operating profit basis.
AI Memory Boom Powers Record Earnings
The company's exceptional performance has been driven primarily by the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence infrastructure worldwide. As one of the world's largest manufacturers of memory semiconductors, Samsung has benefited significantly from surging demand for advanced memory products used in AI servers, hyperscale data centres, and next-generation computing platforms.
The explosive growth of generative AI applications, large language models, and cloud-based AI services has substantially increased the need for high-performance memory solutions, including High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) and advanced DRAM. With global demand continuing to outpace production capacity, memory chip prices have remained elevated, significantly boosting Samsung's profitability.
The latest results highlight how memory manufacturers have become critical beneficiaries of the AI investment cycle, complementing the growth enjoyed by GPU manufacturers such as NVIDIA.
AI Reshapes the Semiconductor Industry
The AI revolution has transformed the semiconductor landscape over the past two years. While companies such as NVIDIA have dominated headlines with their AI accelerators and graphics processors, suppliers of memory chips have emerged as equally important players in enabling AI infrastructure.
Every AI server requires massive amounts of high-speed memory to process increasingly complex workloads, making advanced memory technologies an essential component of modern AI systems. This has created sustained demand across the semiconductor supply chain, benefiting companies with strong capabilities in memory manufacturing.
Samsung, alongside other leading memory producers, has experienced a significant recovery following the downturn in the memory market witnessed during 2023. Rising memory prices and increasing enterprise investments in AI infrastructure have reversed that trend, pushing profitability to historic levels.
Historic Financial Milestone
Samsung is expected to provide a detailed breakdown of its financial performance when it announces its complete second-quarter earnings later this month. The preliminary guidance, however, already marks the highest quarterly operating profit in the company's history.
Market estimates also suggest that Samsung's full-year 2026 operating profit could exceed US$217 billion, potentially making it the most profitable year in the company's history. If realised, the company's earnings for 2026 alone would surpass the cumulative operating profits it generated over the past four decades, underscoring the extraordinary impact of the global AI investment boom.
The milestone reflects a broader shift within the semiconductor industry, where AI-driven demand is reshaping market dynamics and creating new growth opportunities across memory, computing, networking, and cloud infrastructure. As enterprises continue expanding AI deployments worldwide, demand for advanced memory technologies is expected to remain a key driver of growth, reinforcing Samsung's position at the centre of the evolving AI ecosystem.
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