Samsung guides a record $80 billion operating profit and its stock falls 2.4% as Micron gains 4%
Samsung guided the first 100-trillion-won quarterly operating profit in tech history and beat LSEG's bar while missing Bloomberg's. Seoul sold the record; Micron, the US pure play on the same shortage, rallied.
Vincent Jiang · 2 min read
Seoul sold the biggest profit tech has ever printed
Holders of Samsung Electronics−2.42% — Samsung Electronics, down 2.42 percent today sold the stock down 2.4 percent on the day it guided the largest quarterly operating profit any technology company has reported 12. The preliminary figure, filed October 8, was about 107.4 trillion won, near $80 billion, for July to September 13.
One print cleared one bar and missed two
The quarter is the fourth consecutive record: operating profit up 782.5 percent from 12.17 trillion won a year earlier and 20 percent above the second quarter's 89.49 trillion, on sales of about 195 trillion won 35. SBS News puts the operating margin at 55.1 percent, and only Saudi Aramco has ever printed a bigger quarter 24. The guide beat LSEG's 106.1 trillion SmartEstimate and Yonhap Infomax's 105.8 trillion, and missed Bloomberg's 108.67 trillion 134. Some forecasts had sat above 120 trillion before the won strengthened 2. The record beat the estimate and missed the market.
The record cleared one estimate and missed two
- Estimate
Data
| Value | |
|---|---|
| LSEG SmartEstimate | 106.1 tn won |
| Preliminary guide | 107.4 tn won |
| Bloomberg consensus | 108.67 tn won |
| Street forecasts before the won rose (estimate) | 120 tn won |
The money split by listing
One print moved two markets. Micron−1.74% — Micron, down 1.74 percent today, the US pure play on the same shortage, rose 4.06 percent; Samsung fell 2.42 percent, SK Hynix's Nasdaq-listed shares 2.36 percent, and the KOSPI 2.62 percent 15. Micron's filings show where the bid lives: $33.3 billion of operating income on $41.5 billion of revenue in the quarter ended May 2026, an 80 percent operating margin 6. Seoul also had rising US Treasury yields and foreign selling pressing the tape 2.
Micron collected what Samsung's holders paid
Data
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Micron (MU) | 4.06% |
| SK Hynix ADR (SKHY) | -2.36% |
| Samsung (005930.KS) | -2.42% |
| KOSPI | -2.62% |
Micron's operating margin went from minus 37 percent to 80 percent in three years
Data
| Operating margin | |
|---|---|
| Q3 '23 | -36.7% |
| Q4 '23 | -23.9% |
| Q1 '24 | 3.3% |
| Q2 '24 | 10.6% |
| Q3 '24 | 19.6% |
| Q4 '24 | 25% |
| Q1 '25 | 22% |
| Q2 '25 | 23.3% |
| Q3 '25 | 32.3% |
| Q4 '25 | 45% |
| Q1 '26 | 67.6% |
| Q2 '26 | 80.4% |
One division carries a conglomerate
Analysts estimate the memory business earned about 110 trillion won, more than the company as a whole, while phones lost about 1.5 trillion, televisions and appliances lost money, and foundry stayed under water 278. The memory inflation filling the chip division sits on every other division's bill.
Sold out meets canceled
Micron chief executive Sanjay Mehrotra said on September 30 that most of 2027 output is already sold, and that in calendar 2027 and 2028, "we see demand exceeding supply" 59. A Heatmap News tally counted at least $260 billion of canceled data center projects in 2026, accelerating through the September quarter 1. Both describe the same 2027.
October 29 brings the arithmetic
Division detail lands on October 29 and settles which consensus the money priced 17. Watch the memory line against that estimated 110 trillion, beside the losses it carries. KB Securities expects Samsung's HBM prices to more than double in 2027 as HBM4 reaches about 80 percent of its HBM revenue 10. That is next year's bar, and October 29 decides whether this record stands under it.
Deepdive
AI-generated from this story and its cited sources. Not investment advice.
