Samsung 107.4 Trillion Won: Redraws Global Corporate 'Profit Map'

Samsung Electronics' third quarter operating profit of 107.4 trillion won is a figure that redraws the global corporate 'profit map'. When the recent quarterly operating profits of major global companies are converted to Korean won and ranked, Samsung Electronics stands at the highest position.

Second place goes to AI chipmaker Nvidia. In its quarter ending in July, it recorded revenue of $96.22 billion (approximately 128.8 trillion won) and operating profit of $63.73 billion (approximately 85.3 trillion won). This marks the company's 13 consecutive quarters of record earnings, though it falls short of Samsung Electronics' performance this quarter. Third place is Saudi Aramco (77.4 trillion won), which was once the sole member of the 'quarterly profit 100 trillion club'.

Big Tech companies follow. Alphabet (Google) with 54.6 trillion won, Microsoft with 54.4 trillion won, Apple with 47.8 trillion won, and Amazon with 36.8 trillion won. Semiconductor contract manufacturer TSMC recorded 32.3 trillion won, Meta 28.4 trillion won, oil major ExxonMobil 24.3 trillion won, and AI network chipmaker Broadcom 21.5 trillion won.

This map conveys two things. First, the top tier of global corporate profits has completely shifted from oil to semiconductors and AI. Among the top 10 companies, only two are energy firms, with the rest all being technology companies. Second, that the very pinnacle is now occupied by a company in Suwon. With this quarter's convergence of memory chip boom and HBM competitiveness, Samsung Electronics surpassed even Saudi Aramco's 2022 record, becoming the company with the highest quarterly profit in listed company history.

The figures above are based on the most recently disclosed quarters, and since fiscal quarter closing months differ by company, this is not a direct comparison of the same period. The won conversion applies the October 7 exchange rate of 1,338.92 won per dollar.