LG Electronics' Q3 profit rises on home appliances, auto parts
LG Electronics headquarters in Seoul / Korea Times file
Tech firm pledges to expand investment in cooling solutions for AI data centers
LG Electronics reported solid earnings growth in the third quarter, driven largely by strong performance in its home appliance and vehicle component businesses, the company said Wednesday in a regulatory filing.
The electronics maker posted an operating profit of 781.8 billion won ($583 million) for the July-September period, up 13.5 percent from a year earlier. Sales rose 8.9 percent to 23.82 trillion won.
The company attributed the growth to robust sales of its core businesses and continued expansion of business-to-business (B2B) operations. Its home appliance and vehicle solutions businesses maintained solid profitability, while its TV business also improved profitability from a year earlier.
For the first nine months, LG Electronics’ sales reached a record 71.38 trillion won, up 9.2 percent from a year earlier. Operating profit also hit a record 4.03 trillion won, up 55.9 percent.
Despite unfavorable external business conditions, including conflicts in the Middle East, the company said it continued to grow sales by maintaining its strong market positions in its core businesses and leveraging the differentiated competitiveness of its premium products.
The LG CLOiD robot and the LG OLED evo AI Wallpaper TV are displayed during an LG Electronics news conference at CES 2026 in Las Vegas, Jan. 5. Reuters-Yonhap
The home appliance business continued to grow through a dual strategy targeting both premium and mass-market products, alongside an expansion of subscription services, online sales and B2B operations.
Its media entertainment business benefited from higher sales of premium OLED TVs and stronger demand in emerging markets. The business remained profitable as the company increased the share of premium products and improved the efficiency of marketing and other competitive spending.
The vehicle solutions business also maintained steady growth. Higher sales of premium automotive infotainment products further strengthened the business as a stable source of B2B earnings.
LG’s air-conditioning and heating solutions business maintained sales at a similar level to a year earlier, supported by stronger overseas sales. Its profitability declined slightly due to investments in new production capacity and increased staffing for new businesses.
“LG Electronics will continue to expand investment in key emerging growth areas, including cooling solutions for artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and robotics,” a company official said.
The rise of physical AI has prompted LG Electronics to ramp up investment in next-generation growth areas. The company is investing in a robotics data factory in Seoul and actuator production facilities in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province.