Samsung Electronics set a new milestone in the history of Korea's corporations by posting first-quarter revenue of 133 trillion won and operating profit of 57.2 trillion won this year. The results are an earnings surprise that far exceeds the securities market's earlier forecast of around 40 trillion won in operating profit. The rise in DRAM prices advanced more steeply than the industry initially analyzed, and the scale and profitability of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) sales also appear to have delivered results beyond expectations.
Samsung Electronics said on the 7th that its preliminary first-quarter results came to revenue of 133 trillion won and operating profit of 57.2 trillion won. The results mark not only the largest quarterly performance since Samsung Electronics was founded, but also the highest level ever among all domestic corporations. Revenue rose 41.73% from the previous quarter (93.84 trillion won) and grew 68.06% from a year earlier (79.14 trillion won).
◇ The memory semiconductor share of total operating profit nears 80%–90%
In the domestic and overseas securities markets, HBM and commodity DRAM are cited as the core of Samsung Electronics' first-quarter results. If HBM, which is drawing attention as artificial intelligence (AI) memory, sits at the very top of the semiconductor business's profitability, the dominant view is that DRAM, the main sales item, is the direct factor that rapidly swelled the total operating profit. Earlier, on its fourth-quarter earnings conference call last year, Samsung Electronics projected strong first-quarter demand for AI and server DRAM.
In particular, the fact that operating profit came in the 57 trillion won range, far above projections, is evidence that the DRAM price increase was higher than the market's initial analysis. Previously, market research firm TrendForce revised up its first-quarter commodity DRAM contract price outlook from a quarter-over-quarter rise of 55%–60% to 90%–95%. Specifically, it saw PC DRAM prices rising more than 100%, and server DRAM and mobile LPDDR4X·LPDDR5X each jumping about 90%.
Kim Sun-woo, a Meritz Securities analyst, said, "In the first quarter, selling prices for DRAM and NAND flash jumped 87% and 79%, respectively," adding, "We estimate the memory business alone recorded more than 50 trillion won in operating profit." Son In-jun, a Heungkuk Securities analyst, also said, "The rise in average selling prices for commodity memory is the key driver that will lift first-quarter results above consensus."
A semiconductor industry official said, "In the case of Samsung Electronics, among DRAM it supplies the largest volume of high-spec, high-capacity products with higher profitability to major revenue sources such as servers, PCs, and mobile," adding, "As prices surged across all demand sources, the average selling price (ASP) of the core portfolio as a whole rose all at once. It also means a structure has formed in which profit can jump on price alone even without dramatic increases in production yield or shipments."
◇ The super-boom is just beginning… HBM4 sales expansion starts in the second half
Samsung Electronics' blockbuster results are likely to continue this year rather than be a one-off. Notably, first-quarter results did not fully reflect HBM sales that began shipping in earnest to major customers including Nvidia. Earlier, Samsung Electronics projected that this year's HBM revenue would be more than triple 2025 levels, and during the first quarter it also formalized the start of supplying HBM4, the highest in price and margin among HBM products.
The upward trend in DRAM prices is also likely to continue for the time being. TrendForce said first-quarter DRAM contract prices rose to about double the previous quarter, with an additional 58%–63% increase expected in the second quarter. Some DRAM prices entered a correction phase last month, but that is in the consumer market; the contract price trend for large customers, including big tech, remains on an upward track, it said.
As Samsung Electronics reported first-quarter results far above expectations, outlooks for full-year performance continue to be revised upward. KB Securities recently forecast in a report that Samsung Electronics' 2026 operating profit would reach 327 trillion won. That is about eight times the prior year and the highest among major securities firms and investment banks disclosed at the time. Korea Investment & Securities Co. projected 302 trillion won, and Macquarie Securities put it at 301.227 trillion won. KB Securities noted, "We see DRAM prices up 250% on-year and NAND prices up 187% this year, and with first-quarter memory prices beating expectations, the upward trend will continue in the second quarter and strengthen toward the second half."