Samsung profit surges over eight-fold to beat estimates as AI boom fuels memory chip crunch

samsung electronics posted a first-quarter operating profit of 57.2 trillion won, up over 750% from a year earlier and beating analyst estimates. revenue hit 133.9 trillion won, up about 70% year over year. both are new records. the chip division drove the surge, posting 53.7 trillion won in operating profit — over 90% of the company's total — compared with just 1 trillion won a year ago. chip sales hit 81.7 trillion won, up 225%. samsung said its memory business "surpassed its quarterly sales record by addressing high-value-added ai demand despite limited supply availability." samsung's shares rose about 0.9% after the release, bringing year-to-date gains to around 90%. the company is racing rival sk hynix in high-bandwidth memory, announcing in february it became the first to mass-produce hbm4 chips. sk hynix led hbm with a 57% revenue market share in the final quarter of last year, per counterpoint research.