Why Samsung's chip division made 99% of its 107.44 trillion won quarterly profit
Samsung reported 107.44 trillion won of third-quarter operating profit on October 29, 2026. The chip division produced 99% of it, and 2027 HBM supply is sold out.
Samsung Electronics reported third-quarter 2026 operating profit of 107.44 trillion won on October 29, 2026, up 783% from a year earlier, according to Kyunghyang Shinmun. Investing.com puts the quarter-on-quarter gain at 20%. Samsung's investor relations head said the company was the first global technology company to post quarterly operating profit above 100 trillion won, per Investing.com.
The figure falls within the preliminary guidance range Samsung published on October 8, which put operating profit at about 107.4 trillion won on sales of about 195 trillion won.
Memory chips and HBM4 carried the quarter
The semiconductor (DS) division booked 106.5 trillion won of operating profit, 99% of the company total, at an operating margin of 72%, Kyunghyang Shinmun reports. Memory revenue reached 140.7 trillion won, up 427% from a year earlier.
HBM4 revenue more than tripled from the second quarter and made up 60% of Samsung's HBM revenue. Kyunghyang Shinmun estimates Samsung's HBM market share at nearly 40%, against more than 50% for SK hynix in the second quarter. Outside chips, the DX division posted an operating loss of 800 billion won, its second straight quarterly loss. Investing.com reports that the System LSI executive, Jason Shin, expects the slowdown in mobile demand to continue through the fourth quarter and into next year.
Final results against the October 8 guidance
Samsung's October 8 disclosure gave consolidated sales of about 195 trillion won and operating profit of about 107.4 trillion won under K-IFRS. Those figures were medians of ranges of 194 to 196 trillion won for sales and 107.3 to 107.5 trillion won for operating profit. The final numbers, 195.25 trillion won in revenue and 107.44 trillion won in operating profit, fall inside both ranges.
Net profit was 75.1 trillion won, up 5% from the second quarter, and the operating margin rose to 55% from 52%, according to Investing.com. The October 8 disclosure said Samsung's external audit was not yet complete when the guidance was released.
What the results signal for AI chip supply and pricing
Samsung's memory executive Kim Jae-jun said 2027 HBM supply has been negotiated at target prices and is fully sold out, according to Kyunghyang Shinmun. Investing.com reports that ten major customers have signed multi-year supply contracts and ten more are in talks, with a goal of covering 60% to 70% of mid-to-long-term capacity that way. Management expects memory supply shortages to continue into next year.
Samsung plans to start mass production of HBM4E in the first half of 2027, Investing.com reports. Foundry executive Sukchae Kang expects Q4 revenue to grow at a double-digit rate, both quarter on quarter and year on year.
“The chip division produced 99% of Samsung's third-quarter operating profit, leaving about 1% for the rest of the company.”
Shareholder returns and what comes next
The board approved a third-quarter cash dividend of 30 trillion won, or 4,601 won per share, Kyunghyang Shinmun reports. Investing.com says payment is scheduled for November. Samsung's 2026 shareholder return target is 90 trillion to 110 trillion won according to Investing.com, while Kyunghyang Shinmun puts the total at up to 110 trillion won. About 35 trillion won is already executed or confirmed.
As of October 29, 2026, the method and policy for the remaining amount are set for Samsung's January board meeting. Kyunghyang Shinmun puts the remainder at 55 trillion to 77 trillion won, and Investing.com at 55 trillion to 75 trillion won. Kyunghyang Shinmun says buybacks will focus mainly on preferred shares. On the mobile side, executive Daniel Araujo said third-quarter smartphone volumes fell, mainly in mid- and entry-level models, and expects unit volumes to fall in 2027, Investing.com reports.
