LG Electronics rebounded from a loss and returned to more than 1 trillion won in operating profit in just one quarter, improving profitability. In the first quarter of this year, global economic uncertainty grew as raw material prices rose amid war between the United States and Israel and Iran, and higher tariff rates under the U.S. administration of Donald Trump. Even so, LG Electronics posted its highest first-quarter sales ever. In the securities market, analysts say a rebound in the TV business and continued growth in home appliances and business-to-business (B2B) segments drove the results.
LG Electronics on the 7th released a regulatory filing saying its preliminary first-quarter 2026 consolidated results came to sales of 23.733 trillion won and operating profit of 1.6736 trillion won. Compared with a year earlier, sales rose 4.4% and operating profit increased 32.9%. LG Electronics posted an operating loss of 109 billion won in the fourth quarter of last year, marking its first quarterly loss in nine years. It reversed that in just one quarter and returned to the black.
LG Electronics' first-quarter results this year are an earnings surprise. According to FnGuide, the first-quarter consensus for LG Electronics compiled from securities firms' forecasts was sales of 23.3177 trillion won and operating profit of 1.3819 trillion won. Actual sales were 515.3 billion won higher and operating profit was 291.7 billion won higher.
The first-quarter results released by LG Electronics are estimates in accordance with Korea International Financial Reporting Standards (K-IFRS). LG Electronics plans to announce finalized first-quarter results at the end of this month. An LG Electronics official said, "Despite continued economic uncertainty, our core businesses such as home appliances grew on the back of product leadership and a solid market position," adding, "Steady growth in B2B businesses such as vehicle components also contributed to setting a new all-time high for quarterly sales."
◇ TV business that had eaten into results "rebounds"
In the securities market, the background for LG Electronics' rebound this quarter is cited as ▲ improved profitability in the TV institutional sector ▲ expansion of B2B businesses. The idea is that the TV business, which had been eating into results, rebounded and new businesses delivered performance, leading to record-high sales.
The Media Entertainment Solutions (MS) division, which oversees businesses such as TVs and laptops at LG Electronics, posted consecutive losses from the second to the fourth quarter of last year. The annual operating loss came to 750.9 billion won. This year, profitability appears to be improving as efforts to secure cost competitiveness and strategies to enhance operational efficiency bear fruit. LG Electronics also said the MS division succeeded in turning to profit in the first quarter from the previous quarter.
According to market researcher Omdia, LG Electronics ranked No. 1 in market share in the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TV market for the 13th straight year. Last year, its share based on shipments was tallied at 49.7%. While global TV shipments fell 1% on-year to about 208.58 million units last year, OLED TV shipments rose 6% to 6.47 million units.
LG Electronics is accelerating its popularization strategy by pricing 2026 OLED TV models lower than a year earlier. Specifically, at the top end, 65-inch models are about 800,000 won cheaper and 77-inch models about 300,000 won cheaper. At the entry level, 77-inch models are down about 700,000 won and 83-inch models about 1.3 million won. Despite steady increases in TV component and material costs due to the surge in memory chip prices, armed conflict in the Middle East, and the impact of U.S. tariff, the company decided to cut product prices. As a result, the price gap between LG Electronics' high-end liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs and lower-end OLED TVs has narrowed to about 10%–30%.
LG Electronics also lifted profitability by applying the "OLED Special Edition (SE)" panel developed by LG Display to select models. The panel maintains OLED quality while lowering price. Accordingly, some securities firms are assessing that the MS division could also achieve an annual profit this year.
◇ HVAC results fall… "We will secure profitability by improving the cost structure"
The Home Appliance Solutions (HS) division, which oversees LG Electronics' home appliance business, increased the share of online sales and subscriptions in the first quarter of this year in line with changes in market demand. It plans to continue fostering future growth engines such as home robots and robot components (actuators). In the "builder built-in" area of supplying appliances B2B, it is focusing on business expansion by more than quadrupling its specialized "Pro Builder" sales force compared with 2023.
The Vehicle Solutions (VS) division, which runs the vehicle components business, maintained stable growth in the first quarter based on its order backlog. Given the business characteristics of a high proportion of overseas clients, the strong won-to-dollar exchange rate trend also had a positive effect on profitability.
LG Electronics said, however, that first-quarter results for the Eco Solutions (ES) division, which handles the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) business, fell from a year earlier. The reason was heightened market uncertainty stemming from the Middle East war. Still, surging market demand for chillers used in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and for coolant distribution units (CDUs), which are essential for server liquid cooling, is seen as a positive factor. In particular, orders for data center chillers last year increased to about three times the previous year's level, and the results are expected to be reflected in earnings in earnest starting this year.
An LG Electronics official said, "In addition to proactive tariff response efforts such as optimizing production sites, we are intensifying cost-structure improvements across the business to pursue profitability-based growth," adding, "We will proactively respond to the growing burdens of macroeconomic instability, rising raw material prices, and higher logistics costs due to geopolitical issues such as the Middle East war, and work to minimize the impact on our business."