AI fuels "memory shortage", "storage price surge" triggers Samsung Q4 performance: operating profit increased by 208% year-on-year, with revenue hitting a new high.

Due to the significantly increased demand for memory chips for artificial intelligence servers globally, Samsung Electronics' quarterly profit more than doubled, reaching a historic high. In the three months ending in December, Samsung Electronics' preliminary operating profit was 20 trillion Korean won (approximately $13.8 billion), a 208% year-on-year increase, exceeding analysts' average expectations. Revenue increased by 23% to 93 trillion Korean won, also reaching a historic high. The company's stock price rose by 2.5% in early trading in Seoul on Thursday, continuing a 20% increase since the beginning of the year. Competitor SK Hynix's stock price rose by 6.2%. Samsung's stock value has more than doubled in 2025, rising again this month, reflecting market expectations for Samsung's successful performance this year after competitor Micron Technology, Inc.'s optimistic forecast. Just last week, more than 10 analysts raised Samsung's target price. The company will provide a complete financial report including net profit and department details on January 29. KB Securities research director Jeff Kim stated that emerging fields such as humanoid Siasun Robot & Automation and autonomous vehicles require memory, while devices touting artificial intelligence features are also driving demand for DRAM and NAND. He said, "It's still too early to talk about peak demand, investors should buy and hold memory stock. If the profits reach 20 trillion Korean won and the stock price falls, it is a good buying opportunity." This week, Samsung executives emphasized the severity of the shortage of storage chips at the CES consumer electronics show, with President Lee Jae-yong stating that prices of consumer electronics products have begun to rise, and there will be issues in semiconductor supply. Counterpoint Research predicts that prices of the latest generation of traditional DRAM DDR5 used in computers and servers this quarter will increase by 40% compared to the previous three months, with a further 20% increase in the second quarter. Analysts point out that Samsung's preliminary operating profit margin in the fourth quarter of 2025 reached 21.5%, indicating that it will benefit from strong demand for traditional DRAM, High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), and NAND flash memory chips. The operating profit margin for DRAM may exceed 50% in the fourth quarter and is expected to further increase in the first quarter of 2026; traditional DRAM contributes high revenue to Samsung. It holds a leading position in the global NAND flash memory market, which also contributes to its profit growth in 2026. Samsung, which has been behind SK Hynix and Micron in the high bandwidth memory field, delivered advanced HBM4 samples to NVIDIA Corporation for certification testing last year. This has sparked hopes that Samsung may be able to narrow the gap with its competitors and begin mass production of HBM4 in the first half of this year to support NVIDIA Corporation's upcoming Rubin processor. Analysts predict that as HBM4 enters the commercial supply phase, Samsung's total HBM shipments will double in 2026.