Samsung Q2 profit seen surging to record high on AI-fueled windfall; shares fall

Samsung Electronics (KS:005930) on Tuesday forecast a record-high second-quarter profit, as the memory chip maker reaped a major windfall from outsized artificial intelligence-driven demand.

But shares of the company slid as much as 8% after the print, amid a mix of profit-taking and as investors questioned just how sustainable the AI boom will be going forward. Samsung’s revenue also fell short of some lofty expectations.

Samsung was a major weight on the KOSPI index, which slid more than 6%. Samsung rival SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660) tumbled 7%.

Samsung said operating profit for the three months to June 30 was expected at 89.4 trillion won ($58.43 billion), up more than 19-fold from 4.68 trillion won a year earlier. The figure also beat Bloomberg estimates of 84.2 trillion won.

The profit is Samsung’s biggest ever to date, and marks a third consecutive quarter of record profits for the company.

Revenue is expected to more than double to 171 trillion won from 74.57 trillion won a year earlier, the company said in a statement.

But the print was just shy of estimates of 173.3 trillion won.

The bumper earnings were fueled chiefly by stellar demand from the AI industry, as the world’s biggest tech companies continued to pour billions into building out computing capacity.

This spurred increased demand for high-bandwidth memory and conventional DRAM products, tightening supply and driving up memory prices across the board.

Samsung is a major supplier to NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), and is also using the company’s AI GPUs to build its own data centers.

The company’s core memory business is expected to be the main profit driver in the quarter. Its foundry business is expected to clock potential losses due to increased bonus expenses, after the company negotiated a major payout to workers across its chips division in May.

Samsung’s smartphone and electronics business is also expected face headwinds from rising prices due to increased memory costs, which are expected to have dented consumer demand.

Samsung said it will release its full second-quarter earnings on July 30.

Shares of the company have more than doubled so far in 2026, leaving them vulnerable to profit-taking after a strong run. High amounts of leverage in local markets, through exchange-traded funds, have also sparked wild swings in Samsung’s shares in recent months.