Samsung Electronics' operating profit rebounds in Q3

South Korea's tech behemoth Samsung Electronics saw its operating profit rebound in the third quarter due to record sales of semiconductors, the company said Thursday.

The company's operating profit soared 32.48 percent from a year earlier to 12.17 trillion won (8.5 billion U.S. dollars) in the July-September quarter, after more than halving in the previous quarter.

It beat market expectations of about 10.5 trillion won (7.4 billion dollars).

Revenue increased 8.80 percent to 86.06 trillion won (60.4 billion dollars), and net income jumped 21.04 percent to 12.23 trillion won (8.6 billion dollars) in the third quarter.

The double-digit growth was attributable to the record sales of chips, such as high-bandwidth memory 3E (HBM3E) and server solid state drives (SSDs), and the successful launch of new foldable phones.

Samsung expected the semiconductor market to remain strong in the fourth quarter, driven by the ongoing artificial intelligence (AI) investment momentum.

The company's chip-making business recorded an operating profit of 7.0 trillion won (4.9 billion dollars) on revenue of 33.1 trillion won (23.2 billion dollars) in the third quarter.

The revenue hit a record high thanks to the expanded HBM3E sales and strong demand for SSDs and double data rate 5 (DDR5) products.

Samsung said it will actively respond in the fourth quarter to demand from AI and conventional servers with HBM3E, high-density eSSDs and other memory offerings.

The display panel division achieved an operating profit of 1.2 trillion won (842.0 million dollars) with revenue of 8.1 trillion won (5.7 billion dollars) in the July-September quarter.

The performance of small and medium displays improved on robust demand for flagship smartphones, while large display sales increased on the back of higher demand for gaming monitors.

Samsung forecast that demand for new smartphones would continue in the fourth quarter amid the higher demand for non-smartphone display products.

The mobile phone and networks unit generated an operating profit of 3.6 trillion won (2.5 billion dollars) on revenue of 34.1 trillion won (23.9 billion dollars) in the third quarter.

Both revenue and operating profit gained quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year as a result of the robust flagship smartphone sales, the strong launch of Galaxy Z Fold7, and the improved sales of tablets and wearables.

Samsung planned to focus on seasonal promotions of AI smartphones, such as Galaxy S25 and foldable phones, in the fourth quarter.

The TV and home appliance business posted an operating loss of 100 billion won (70.2 million dollars) on revenue of 13.9 trillion won (9.8 billion dollars).

TV sales remained solid in the third quarter due to higher demand for premium products, but intensified competition led to a decline in earnings, Samsung said.

The company aimed to achieve revenue recovery in the fourth quarter by capturing seasonal demand with premium and large-screen TVs.