Samsung Electronics on Tuesday projected a sharp rebound in its third-quarter earnings, estimating an operating profit of 12.1 trillion won ($8.46 billion), up 31.8 percent from a year earlier, according to its earnings guidance.

The figure marks the first time in five quarters that the Korean tech giant’s operating profit has exceeded the 10 trillion won threshold. It also represents the company’s strongest quarterly performance since the second quarter of 2022, when it logged 14.1 trillion won in operating profit.

Sales for the July-September period also reached an all-time high of 86 trillion won, rising 8.72 percent on-year and 15.3 percent on-quarter. It is the first time the company’s quarterly revenue has surpassed 80 trillion won, breaking the previous record of 79.1 trillion won posted in the same period last year.

The preliminary earnings surpassed market expectations. Local market tracker FnGuide had forecast Samsung’s operating profit at 10.1 trillion won and revenue at 84.1 trillion won.

Although Samsung did not provide a detailed breakdown of earnings by business segment, analysts primarily attributed the robust performance to the firm’s device solutions division, which oversees its memory chip and foundry operations.

Market estimates suggest the chip business generated nearly 6 trillion won in operating profit during the third quarter, staging a sharp turnaround from the 400 billion won posted in the preceding quarter.

“The chip division is likely to spearhead company-wide earnings growth going forward,” said Jeong Min-gyu, an analyst at Sangsangin Investment & Securities.

Analysts anticipate that the positive momentum will continue into the final quarter of the year, driven by solid demand in the semiconductor sector. High-performance memory chips, particularly those used in artificial intelligence servers, are expected to see rising shipments and stronger pricing.

Samsung is also ramping up efforts in the high-bandwidth memory segment, where it has historically trailed competitors. The company has reportedly secured a major supply deal for low-power HBM chips to be used in OpenAI’s next-generation AI infrastructure project, “Stargate,” which is expected to involve investments exceeding 700 trillion won.

In a related development, Samsung’s key partner AMD recently signed a large-scale graphics processing unit deal with OpenAI — a move that could further boost Samsung’s HBM chip shipments.

Additionally, the company is said to be preparing for mass production of fifth-generation HBM3E chips for Nvidia, while currently undergoing qualification tests for sixth-generation HBM4 products.

“With enhanced HBM competitiveness and a broader client base, Samsung is poised to deliver the fastest growth among the world’s top three memory chip-makers next year,” said Ryu Young-ho, an analyst at NH Investment & Securities.

He added that Samsung’s mobile division is expected to maintain stable margins, supported by strong sales of premium smartphones. Its display business, meanwhile, is likely to benefit from seasonal demand in the fourth quarter. Losses in non-memory operations are also projected to narrow, with improved production utilization rates.

Meanwhile, Samsung is scheduled to release its finalized third-quarter earnings report, including detailed divisional results, later this month.

By Jie Ye-eun (yeeun@heraldcorp.com)