Samsung Electronics reported that its fourth quarter (October to December) results last year fell short of market expectations and is showing weakness in early trading on the 8th.
Samsung Electronics' stock was traded at 54,800 won at 9:02 a.m. on the same day. The stock price dropped 1.1% (600 won) compared to the previous day.
Samsung Electronics disclosed its fourth quarter results before the market opened on the same day. Preliminary figures showed 75 trillion won in revenue and 6.5 trillion won in operating profit. These figures fell short of securities firms' expectations of 77.4 trillion won in revenue and 7.97 trillion won in operating profit.
Securities firms have been lowering their expectations for Samsung Electronics' performance. The forecast for operating profit in the fourth quarter of last year decreased from 12.87 trillion won at the end of the first half to 12.2 trillion won at the end of the third quarter, and 9.72 trillion won at the end of November.
Samsung Electronics noted that the device solutions (DS, semiconductors) sector saw a decline in sales and profits due to a worsening market for memory semiconductors used in IT products and a drop in the operating rate of non-memory semiconductors. The device experience (DX) sector also reported decreased performance as the effect of new smartphone releases diminished and competition among companies intensified.