Samsung flags 15-fold surge in Q2 profit as AI boom lifts chip prices

Seoul: Samsung Electronics Co. on Friday estimated its second-quarter operating profit shot up more than 15-fold, as a prolonged boom in artificial intelligence computing lifted prices of memory chips. The world's biggest maker of memory chips expected a second-quarter operating profit of 10.4 trillion won (US$7.5 billion), up 1,452.2 percent from a year earlier, Samsung Electronics said in a regulatory filing. Revenue increased 23.3 percent to 74 trillion won for the April-June period. The company did not disclose the data for net earnings in the guidance. The operating profit was 25.8 percent higher than the average estimate, Yonhap News Agency reported. It is the first time that Samsung Electronics posted an operating profit of 10 trillion won or over since the third quarter of 2022, when it logged 10.8 trillion won. The second-quarter operating profit also topped its annual figure of 6.5 trillion won for 2023. Source: Bahrain News Agency