Samsung Electronics is expected to report a sharp jump in second-quarter profit as booming demand for AI infrastructure pushes memory-chip prices higher and keeps supply tight.
Analysts’ forecasts cited by Reuters put Samsung’s operating profit at around 86 trillion won, roughly $56.35 billion, for the April-to-June quarter. That’s about 18 times higher than the 4.7 trillion won it posted a year earlier.
It would also mark Samsung’s third straight quarter of record operating profit, cementing its position as one of the biggest winners of the AI infrastructure buildout.
Samsung is the world’s largest memory-chip maker by sales. Its chips run across smartphones, servers, data centers, and AI systems. As companies keep piling into AI infrastructure, demand for memory has been growing faster than manufacturers can add supply.
The sharpest growth has come from high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, which powers AI accelerators. But analysts say the current surge isn’t limited to HBM. Demand for conventional DRAM and NAND chips has also climbed as AI workloads spread into cloud computing, data storage, and agentic AI systems.
Agentic AI, systems built to handle complex, multi-step tasks, is more memory-hungry than simpler AI tools. It needs greater storage capacity and faster data retrieval during inference, which puts pressure on the memory supply.
The supply-demand gap has sent prices sharply higher. Citi Research said average selling prices for DRAM rose 44% quarter-on-quarter in Q2, while NAND prices climbed 53%.
That pricing power has lifted memory-chip companies across the board. Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology have all seen their shares run strongly this year as investors bet that AI demand keeps memory markets tight.
Samsung supplies chips to major technology companies including Nvidia, Google, and Apple, all of which are investing heavily in AI systems, cloud infrastructure, and advanced devices that need more memory to function.
The expected profit surge also shows how fast the semiconductor cycle can flip. Not long ago, memory makers were dealing with weak demand, falling prices, and painful inventory corrections. AI spending has now created a shortage severe enough to drive record profits instead.
Samsung does face some risks, though.
Analysts flagged that second-quarter profit could take a hit if the company books a larger-than-expected provision for employee bonuses. Samsung reached a wage deal with chip workers in May that allocates 10.5% of the semiconductor division’s operating profit to special bonuses, which could make the final number more volatile depending on how the payments are accounted for.
There are also bigger questions about whether the AI infrastructure boom can keep running at this pace. Cloud providers are spending heavily on data centers, chips, and power supply, but investors want to see proof that AI services can actually generate enough revenue to justify all of it.
If infrastructure investment slows, the memory boom cools with it. That would hit Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron, all of which are expanding capacity to meet current demand levels.
Samsung and SK Hynix have already committed major investments to expand chip production in South Korea. That signals confidence in long-term demand, but it also means more exposure if the market softens sooner than expected.
Samsung’s mobile business adds another wrinkle. Rising memory prices are great for the chip division, but they also push up component costs for smartphones and other consumer devices. Analysts say Samsung may need to pass on further price increases in the second half of the year if costs keep climbing.
So the picture is mixed. Record profits in semiconductors, pressure building on the consumer side.
Readers following the wider chip rally can also check our coverage of chip demand.
Samsung will release detailed earnings later this month. Investors will be watching the headline profit number, but management’s comments on memory supply, AI demand, pricing trends, and capital spending will matter just as much.
AI has turned memory chips into one of the hottest corners of the technology sector. If demand continues to outpace supply, Samsung’s recovery may still have room to run.
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