Samsung Electronics has overtaken Nvidia to become the world’s most-profitable technology company after reporting a record quarterly operating profit of 89.4 trillion won ($58.6 billion), driven by booming demand for AI memory chips. The South Korean technology giant on Tuesday, July 7 said its preliminary operating profit for the April-June quarter surged 1,810.3% from a year earlier, while revenue reached an all-time high of 171 trillion won. The quarterly profit also exceeded Nvidia’s previous record operating income of $53.5 billion, highlighting how the global AI boom is shifting profits toward memory chip makers.
Samsung ‘s AI memory chip business drives record earnings
Samsung said its operating profit rose to 89.4 trillion won during the second quarter, beating market expectations of 84.16 trillion won by 6.2%. Revenue climbed 129.3% year-on-year to a record 171 trillion won. The latest operating profit is 56% higher than Samsung’s previous quarterly record of 57.2 trillion won set in the first quarter. The company also earned more in the second quarter alone than its combined operating profit during 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Samsung overtakes Nvidia as AI demand remains strong
The earnings put Samsung ahead of Nvidia’s previous record quarterly operating income of $53.5 billion for the fiscal first quarter ended April 26. Analysts said the strong results were largely driven by higher prices for high-bandwidth memory (HBM), server DRAM and NAND chips, which are widely used in AI servers and data centres.Samsung also said the quarterly figures include provisions for special employee bonuses agreed with its labour union. Analysts estimate those provisions, including retroactive payments, at between 15 trillion won and 19 trillion won.Without those costs, Samsung’s quarterly operating profit would likely have exceeded 100 trillion won.
Analysts expect strong full-year performance
With first-half operating profit nearing 150 trillion won, analysts expect Samsung to report more than 350 trillion won in operating profit for the full year. Jung Min-gyu, an analyst at Sangsangin Securities, said demand from AI data centres remains strong despite higher memory prices.“Memory price increases are adding cost pressure on set customers, but demand from data center clients remains strong, and large-scale purchases are expected to continue,” Jung said.Kim Yang-paeng, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade, said global AI investment remains steady and demand has not shown signs of slowing.
