Samsung Electronics in Suwon Breaks Historic '100 Trillion Won Quarterly Operating Profit' Milestone...Rewrites Global Corporate History
Samsung Electronics, headquartered in Suwon, has opened a new era of 'quarterly operating profit of 100 trillion won' for the first time in the history of publicly listed global corporations. Samsung Electronics announced on the 8th through its Q3 provisional earnings disclosure that it recorded sales of 195 trillion won and operating profit of 107.4 trillion won.
Operating profit increased by 20.0% compared to the previous quarter (89.5 trillion won), exceeding the securities industry consensus (104.9 trillion won) by 2.5 trillion won. When the second half's accumulated operating profit of 146.7 trillion won is added to this quarter's results, surpassing 350 trillion won in annual operating profit is virtually certain, and 400 trillion won is within sight.
The weight of this figure becomes apparent when considering the entire history of global corporations. The only listed company to exceed 100 trillion won in quarterly operating profit was Saudi Aramco in the second quarter of 2022, when oil prices surged. Samsung Electronics is the first manufacturing and technology company—not a state-owned enterprise pumping oil—to cross this threshold. With this quarter's operating profit approximately 22 trillion won higher than Nvidia's, the representative company of the artificial intelligence (AI) era (converted at 85.3 trillion won), Samsung Electronics ranks first globally in terms of quarterly profit.
The semiconductor (DS) division drove up the earnings. The average price of PC DRAM hit a record high again at 26 dollars last month, and NAND prices have been rising for 21 consecutive months. High Bandwidth Memory HBM4, launched for the first time in the industry earlier this year, is rapidly increasing its revenue share. Market research firm TrendForce forecasts DRAM prices will rise another 10-15% in the fourth quarter, suggesting the upward cycle will continue for some time.
There are shadows as well. The non-memory sector, including foundry and System LSI, is estimated to be continuing losses due to operating costs at the U.S. Taylor factory, and the consumer electronics (DX) sector is absorbing the impact of rising chip prices. The won-dollar exchange rate's sharp 11.9% decline in the third quarter (1,358 won at the end of September) was also a burden on export-oriented companies' profitability.
This record is also a record for Suwon. Suwon, home to Samsung Electronics headquarters and research complexes, is a city whose local tax revenue, employment, and surrounding commercial districts are directly linked to Samsung's earnings. The record-breaking profits are expected to bring warmth to Suwon city's coffers and the regional economy next year.