SUMMARYSamsung’s chip business is riding surging AI demand for memory and storage, pushing projected 2026 operating profit to about 300 trillion won, or $196 billion. The company’s preliminary second-quarter operating profit reached $58.5 billion, topping Nvidia’s $53.54 billion and making Samsung the most profitable technology company for the period. Samsung’s DS division accounted for most of the company’s first-quarter operating profit, and executives said this year’s chip profit could exceed the semiconductor unit’s cumulative earnings from the past 40 years.
Samsungâ(TM)s chip division is projected to earn more in 2026 than it made across its previous 40 years in semiconductors, driven by soaring AI-fueled demand for memory and storage. The companyâ(TM)s latest quarterly operating profit reportedly topped Nvidiaâ(TM)s, making Samsung the worldâ(TM)s most profitable tech company for the period. Tom's Hardware reports: Brokerage consensus puts Samsung's full-year 2026 operating profit near 300 trillion won ($196 billion), and its second-quarter figure at about 84.6 trillion won ($55.1 billion). Samsung easily beat the consensus with $58.5 billion when it posted preliminary results on July 7, overtaking Nvidia's most recent quarterly operating profit of $53.54 billion and becoming the most profitable technology company in the world for the period, on the back of AI-driven memory demand.
Samsung's DS division booked 53.7 trillion won ($35.1 billion) of the company's 57.2 trillion won in total operating profit during the first quarter of 2026, roughly 94% of the total, which is why the division's projection sits so close to Samsung's full-year consensus. "This year's profit will exceed the cumulative profit generated over the past 40 years since we entered the semiconductor business," Kim Yong-Kwan told staff, scoping the claim to the chip business rather than the wider conglomerate. Further reading: Samsung Chip Workers To Get $340,000 Average Bonus In AI Boom