Samsung Electronics posted an earnings surprise in the first quarter that far exceeded market expectations.
Samsung Electronics announced finalized results through a disclosure on the 30th, reporting 133.8734 trillion won in sales and 57.2328 trillion won in operating profit on a consolidation basis for the first quarter of 2026.
The Device Solutions (DS) institutional sector, which handles the semiconductor business, alone logged 53.7 trillion won in operating profit. The operating margin reached 65.7%.
Results were driven by the Device Solutions (DS) institutional sector, which handles semiconductors. The DS institutional sector set record highs with 81.7 trillion won in sales and 53.7 trillion won in operating profit.
Sales rose 42.7% from the prior quarter and 69.2% from a year earlier, while operating profit surged 185.1% quarter over quarter and 756.1% year over year.
Key drivers were higher memory prices and growing demand for high value-added products for artificial intelligence (AI), with mass production of high bandwidth memory (HBM)4 and next-generation low-power module SoCAMM2, and development of PCIe Gen6 SSDs strengthening market leadership. System LSI improved on expanded sales of flagship system-on-chip (SoC), and foundry continued to secure orders for high-performance computing and silicon photonics despite the off-season.
The Device eXperience (DX) institutional sector, which handles finished goods, posted 52.7 trillion won in sales and 3 trillion won in operating profit. Mobile eXperience (MX) grew on stronger sales centered on the Galaxy S26 Ultra, while VD improved profitability through premium TV sales and efficiency measures. By contrast, networks and home appliances saw limited improvement due to slower investment, rising costs, and tariff effects.
Harman, meanwhile, recorded 3.8 trillion won in sales and 200 billion won in operating profit, declining amid off-season effects, while the display unit posted 6.7 trillion won in sales and 400 billion won in operating profit.
Samsung Electronics also continued investing to secure future growth engines, spending 11.3 trillion won on research and development in the first quarter.