Lee Gyu-lee is a business writer at The Korea Times, focusing primarily on IT & telecommunications, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KOTRA. Prior to this, she has covered a wide range of cultural news, from film, television and K-pop to lifestyle and fashion.
Samsung Electronics projects record Q2 earnings with $58.4 bil. operating profit
Samsung Electronics headquarters in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province / Yonhap
By Lee Gyu-lee
Samsung Electronics projected another record-breaking earnings for the second quarter, predicting an operating profit of 89.4 trillion won ($58.4 billion) and 171 trillion won in sales in its earnings guidance, driven by a global boom in demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips.
The company said its operating profit is estimated to have surged 1,810.3 percent from a year earlier and 56.2 percent from the previous quarter, while sales also jumped 129.3 percent year-over-year and 27.7 percent from the first quarter.
The earnings estimate surpasses Samsung Electronics' previous record quarterly operating profit of 57.23 trillion won in the first quarter of this year, extending its unprecedented streak to a third consecutive quarter of record revenue and operating profit.
The second-quarter operating profit alone exceeded the company’s combined operating profit over the past three years, which totaled 82.9 trillion won – 6.57 trillion won in 2023, 32.7 trillion won in 2024 and 43.6 trillion won in 2025.
The results also surpass the record quarterly operating profits posted by two of the most profitable tech companies globally, Nvidia and Apple. Nvidia’s record stands at about $53.5 billion, while Apple’s peak is approximately $50.9 billion, making Samsung Electronics' latest figure unprecedented among major tech giants.
The earnings also topped the consensus forecasts compiled by financial market data provider FnGuide, which had projected an average operating profit of 84.8 trillion won, delivering another earnings surprise.
The company will release its final financial results with detailed earnings, including business segment performance and net profit, later this month.