Samsung Electronics recorded a staggering 1,800% surge in operating profit for the second quarter, fueled by booming demand for its memory chips used in artificial intelligence systems. The preliminary result marks the highest quarterly profit the company has seen in years, yet its stock price dropped as investors locked in gains.
The jump in profitability underscores how tightly the AI boom has tied to the semiconductor industry, with Samsung—one of the world's largest memory chipmakers—benefiting from the explosion in AI model training. But the profit figure disappointed some analysts who had expected even more, prompting a selloff in Samsung shares.
Preliminary guidance shows operating profit for the April-June period reached roughly $7.5 billion, according to multiple reports. Revenue also grew significantly, though specific figures were not disclosed. The strong performance was led by the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) segment, which is critical for AI accelerators.
The mixed market reaction triggered a rotation into less loved sectors, with investors moving away from richly valued tech names. Memory chip stocks like Micron and Western Digital also dipped in overnight trading, reflecting broad sector fatigue after a long AI-led rally.
Analysts caution that while Samsung's AI tailwinds remain strong, the near-term outlook may be tempered by supply chain constraints and rising competition from SK Hynix and others in the premium HBM market.