---
title: "Samsung guides a record $80 billion operating profit and its stock falls 2.4% as Micron gains 4%"
description: "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."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Silicon"
published: 2026-10-08T13:04:57.196Z
modified: 2026-10-08T13:04:57.196Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/samsung-guides-a-record-80-billion-operating-profit-and-its-stock-falls-2-4-as-micron-gains-4
language: en
keywords: "Samsung, Micron, Memory, Earnings, HBM, Semiconductors"
---

# 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.

## Seoul sold the biggest profit tech has ever printed

Holders of Samsung Electronics sold the stock down 2.4 percent on the day it guided the largest quarterly operating profit any technology company has reported [1][2]. [The preliminary figure, filed October 8](https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/other/samsung-q3-profit-jumps-nearly-nine-fold-as-ai-memory-boom-lifts-chip-earnings/ar-AA2dLRWh), was about 107.4 trillion won, near $80 billion, for July to September [1][3].

## 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 [3][5]. [SBS News](https://news.sbs.co.kr/english/article.do?news_id=N1008788439) puts the operating margin at 55.1 percent, and only Saudi Aramco has ever printed a bigger quarter [2][4]. The guide beat LSEG's 106.1 trillion SmartEstimate and Yonhap Infomax's 105.8 trillion, and missed Bloomberg's 108.67 trillion [1][3][4]. Some forecasts had sat above 120 trillion before the won strengthened [2]. The record beat the estimate and missed the market.

*Chart: **The record cleared one estimate and missed two** Bar chart comparing Samsung's preliminary Q3 operating profit with LSEG's estimate, Bloomberg's consensus and pre-won street forecasts*

*Preliminary Q3 2026 operating profit guide against analyst bars, in trillion won. The 120 figure marks street forecasts made before the won's appreciation, since trimmed. Sources: Yahoo/Investing.com, Korea Herald, Reuters, SBS News, October 7 to 8, 2026. [1][2][3][4]*

## The money split by listing

One print moved two markets. [Micron](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/micron), the US pure play on the same shortage, rose 4.06 percent; [Samsung](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/samsung) fell 2.42 percent, SK Hynix's Nasdaq-listed shares 2.36 percent, and the KOSPI 2.62 percent [1][5]. [Micron's filings](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000723125) 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](https://theinference.org/article/micron-s-numbers-look-unreal-its-fab-workers-are-betting-they-re-real) [6]. Seoul also had rising US Treasury yields and foreign selling pressing the tape [2].

*Chart: **Micron collected what Samsung's holders paid** Bar chart of one-day price moves for Micron, SK Hynix's US listing, Samsung and the KOSPI*

*Quote-board moves around Samsung's October 8, 2026, preliminary results, in percent. Samsung and the KOSPI trade in Seoul; SKHY is SK Hynix's US listing; Micron is US-listed. Sources: Yahoo Finance quote strips. [1][5]*

*Chart: **Micron's operating margin went from minus 37 percent to 80 percent in three years** Line chart of Micron's quarterly operating margin across twelve quarters, from minus 36.7 percent in the quarter ended August 2023 to 80.4 percent in the quarter ended May 2026*

*Operating margin as a percent of revenue, by fiscal quarter labeled as calendar quarter, Q3 2023 to Q2 2026. The quarter ended May 2026 is the one cited in the text: $33.3 billion of operating income on $41.5 billion of revenue. Source: Micron, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved October 8, 2026. [11]*

## One division carries a conglomerate

Analysts [estimate the memory business earned about 110 trillion won](https://www.trendforce.com/news/2026/10/08/news-samsung-sees-3q26-operating-profit-soaring-783-to-record-krw-107-4-trillion-on-hbm4-memory-price-gains/), more than the company as a whole, while phones lost about 1.5 trillion, televisions and appliances lost money, and foundry stayed under water [2][7][8]. The memory inflation filling the chip division sits on every other division's bill.

## Sold out meets canceled

Micron chief executive [Sanjay Mehrotra](https://theinference.org/markets/people/sanjay-mehrotra) [said on September 30 that most of 2027 output is already sold](https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/waiting-for-cheaper-ram-micron-says-you-could-be-waiting-until-2028-or-beyond/), and that in calendar 2027 and 2028, "we see demand exceeding supply" [5][9]. 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 [1][7]. 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](https://news.webindia123.com/news/articles/Business/20261008/4508353.html) 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.

## Takeaway

Samsung's 107.4 trillion won guide is the first 100-trillion-won quarter in tech history and still traded like a miss: the stock fell 2.42 percent while Micron, printing an 80 percent margin on the same memory shortage, rose 4.06 percent. One division carries the conglomerate, and October 29 settles the arithmetic.

## Sources

1. [Yahoo Finance (Investing.com), 'Samsung shares fall as record Q3 profit misses lofty expectations', 7 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/articles/samsung-q3-profit-surges-record-235127092.html)
2. [The Korea Herald, 'Samsung becomes first tech giant to top W100tr quarterly profit', 8 October 2026](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10896336)
3. [Reuters, 'Samsung Q3 profit jumps nearly nine-fold as AI memory boom lifts chip earnings', 8 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/other/samsung-q3-profit-jumps-nearly-nine-fold-as-ai-memory-boom-lifts-chip-earnings/ar-AA2dLRWh)
4. [SBS News, 'Samsung Posts 107 Trillion Won in Q3 Operating Profit, Surpassing 100 Trillion Won for First Time Among Global Big Tech', 8 October 2026](https://news.sbs.co.kr/english/article.do?news_id=N1008788439)
5. [Yahoo Finance (Benzinga), 'Samsung's Q3 Profit Guidance Tops Analyst Estimates As AI Demand Outstrips Memory Supply', 7 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/samsungs-q3-profit-guidance-tops-015135868.html)
6. [Micron Technology, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 8 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000723125)
7. [TrendForce News, 'Samsung Sees 3Q26 Operating Profit Soaring 783% to Record KRW 107.4 Trillion on HBM4, Memory Price Gains', 8 October 2026](https://www.trendforce.com/news/2026/10/08/news-samsung-sees-3q26-operating-profit-soaring-783-to-record-krw-107-4-trillion-on-hbm4-memory-price-gains/)
8. [SamMobile, 'Samsung earns record-breaking $80 billion profit, thanks to the rise of AI', 8 October 2026](https://www.sammobile.com/news/samsung-q3-2026-profit-usd-80-billion-record-breaking/)
9. [Digital Trends, 'Waiting for cheaper RAM? Micron says you could be waiting until 2028 or beyond', 30 September 2026](https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/waiting-for-cheaper-ram-micron-says-you-could-be-waiting-until-2028-or-beyond/)
10. [Webindia123 (ANI), 'Samsung Electronics Q3 operating profit jumps 783% to record USD 80 billion', 8 October 2026](https://news.webindia123.com/news/articles/Business/20261008/4508353.html)
11. [Micron, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 8 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000723125)


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Samsung guides a record $80 billion operating profit and its stock falls 2.4% as Micron gains 4% — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/samsung-guides-a-record-80-billion-operating-profit-and-its-stock-falls-2-4-as-micron-gains-4