--- title: "Strongest Quarterly Earnings in History! Samsung Q1 Profit Surges Eightfold, Surpassing Full-Year 2025 Total, with Memory Business as Core Engine" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/284690171.md" description: "Samsung Electronics released its Q1 2026 financial report, reporting revenue of 133.9 trillion South Korean won, a 43% quarter-on-quarter increase and a 69% year-on-year increase. Operating profit reached 57.2 trillion South Korean won, soaring 185% quarter-on-quarter and surging 756% year-on-year, beating market expectations. The chip business was the main driver, contributing over 90% of profits, with memory business sales reaching 74.8 trillion South Korean won, up 101% quarter-on-quarter. The company expects strong demand in the second half of the year, with AI products driving margin expansion" datetime: "2026-04-30T04:01:57.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/284690171.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/284690171.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/284690171.md) --- # Strongest Quarterly Earnings in History! Samsung Q1 Profit Surges Eightfold, Surpassing Full-Year 2025 Total, with Memory Business as Core Engine Samsung Electronics released its first-quarter financial report on April 29, 2026, delivering a "super quarterly report" worthy of being recorded in the company's history. The data shows: > Revenue: Consolidated revenue for Q1 2026 reached **133.9 trillion South Korean won** (approximately $89.7 billion), an increase of 43% quarter-on-quarter and a significant rise of 69% year-on-year, setting a new historical record for single-quarter revenue. > > Operating Profit: **57.2 trillion South Korean won**, soaring 185% quarter-on-quarter and surging **756%** year-on-year. This not only set a new historical high for quarterly profit but also exceeded the company's previous guidance and the market consensus expectation (55.28 trillion South Korean won). > > Regarding the performance outlook, the company expects strong demand for server storage to continue in the second half of the year, with agent AI accelerating demand growth. It plans to deliver HBM4E samples in the second quarter. The company also stated that the chip supply shortage will persist in the second half of the year, and the supply-demand gap for memory may further widen in 2027. Notably, memory shortages driven by the expansion of AI data centers, rising prices, and product mix upgrades jointly pushed up profit margins. The operating profit for this single quarter has surpassed the total annual profit of 57.2 trillion South Korean won in 2025, marking a structural leap in the company's profitability. ## Chips\*\*: Absolute Profit Engine, Contributing Over 90% of Earnings\*\* The core driver of this earnings explosion undoubtedly points to the chip business. > Samsung's Device Solutions (DS) division achieved sales of 81.7 trillion South Korean won in the first quarter, an 86% increase from 44.0 trillion South Korean won in the previous quarter, and a sharp 225% increase from 25.1 trillion South Korean won in Q1 2025; > > Operating profit reached a staggering 53.7 trillion South Korean won, compared to only about 1.1 trillion South Korean won in the same period last year, representing a year-on-year increase of more than 48 times. This accounted for 93.9% of Samsung Group's total operating profit of 57.2 trillion South Korean won. > > The DS division's single-quarter operating profit margin reached approximately 66%, which was the primary reason for Samsung's overall operating profit margin jumping to 42.8%. > > Among these, the **memory business** performed particularly outstandingly. Sales in the memory business reached **74.8 trillion South Korean won** in the first quarter, a **101% (doubling)** increase quarter-on-quarter and a substantial **292%** increase year-on-year, setting the highest single-quarter sales record in history. Samsung explicitly stated in its financial report that despite certain supply constraints, the company actively met the demand for high-value-added AI products and benefited from the industry-wide general rise in memory prices. The demand structure driving this achievement is very clear: **accelerated expansion of AI servers** continues to surge demand for high-performance memory; **HBM (High Bandwidth Memory)** supply remains tight, with the price center significantly shifting upward; demand for **high-end DDR5 DRAM** and **enterprise SSDs** is strong; and the imbalance between supply and demand has led to a **continuous rise in ASP (Average Selling Price)**. ## **HBM Chips: Catching Up with SK Hynix to Seize the High Ground in the AI Era** In this cycle of AI memory, HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) chips are the most critical competitive track. As an indispensable companion memory for GPUs from AI chip giants like NVIDIA, the strategic value of HBM far exceeds that of traditional DRAM. Samsung stated that **the company officially started mass production and sales of HBM4 products for the NVIDIA Vera Rubin platform in Q1 2026**, while completing bulk shipments of SOCAMM2. This is the sixth generation of HBM technology, representing the current global state-of-the-art in AI memory technology and the mainstream configuration for AI data centers in the next one to two years. In the global HBM competitive landscape, Samsung is striving to catch up with the pioneer, SK Hynix. According to Counterpoint Research data, SK Hynix still led the world in Q4 2025 with a **57% HBM market share**. However, Ray Wang, an analyst at SemiAnalysis, pointed out, "Samsung has made significant progress in HBM4, and the technological gap with SK Hynix has narrowed significantly compared to previous generations." Key layouts in Samsung's HBM strategy include: > 1. HBM4 Mass Production First-Mover Advantage – In February this year, Samsung announced it was the first globally to achieve mass production and shipment of HBM4, seizing the initial technological advantage; > 2. Early Delivery of HBM4E Samples – The company plans to deliver the first batch of HBM4E samples in the second quarter, further consolidating the pace of technological iteration; > 3. Deep Integration with NVIDIA Vera Rubin Platform – HBM4/HBM4E will become the core memory solution for the next-generation AI training and inference platforms; > 4. Foundry Synergy – The foundry business will further drive overall profit improvement in the second quarter by increasing the supply of HBM4 B-die (base die). ## Price Increases and Declining Cost Ratio Boost Profit Margins Samsung's profitability showed a significant leap in the first quarter. The company's revenue was 133.9 trillion South Korean won, with costs of 52.0 trillion South Korean won, bringing the cost ratio down to 38.8%. In comparison, the cost ratio was 64.5% in the same period last year and 52.8% in the previous quarter. **Gross profit reached 81.9 trillion South Korean won, with the gross margin rising to 61.2%. The operating profit margin rose from 8.4% in the same period last year and 21.4% in the previous quarter to 42.8%.** This change mainly stems from the increased proportion of high-end AI memory products, the rise in average selling prices driven by tight memory supply and demand, and the decline in expense ratios following the expansion of revenue scale. The selling, general and administrative expense ratio dropped to 18.4%. R&D expenses remained at a high level of investment, with R&D spending in the first quarter at 11.3 trillion South Korean won, a 26% year-on-year increase, but accounting for only 8.5% of revenue. Net profit was approximately 47.1 trillion to 47.2 trillion South Korean won, with a net profit margin of 35.3%. EPS for common shares was 7,123 South Korean won, and EPS for preferred shares was 7,124 South Korean won. The company disclosed that ROE rose to 41%, and the EBITDA margin reached 51%. ## Foundry and Logic Chips Still in Adjustment Period Compared to the memory business, the performance of the System LSI and foundry businesses was more complex. System LSI benefited from the expansion of flagship SoC sales in the first quarter, leading to improved profitability. Samsung expects to expand SoC and sensor sales for mid-range and mass-market smartphones in the second quarter, continue to strive for flagship SoC design orders in the second half of the year, and expand the customer base and product line for 200MP image sensors. Regarding the foundry business, Samsung stated that advanced node production lines are running at full capacity, but profits declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors. The company emphasized that the momentum of HPC design orders continues and that a foundation in silicon photonics has been established. In the coming quarters, key focuses for the foundry business include increasing HBM4 B-die supply in the second quarter, advancing the development of the 1.4nm process, expanding the 2nm customer base, and starting the ramp-up of second-generation 2nm mobile products in the second half of the year. The company also plans to advance the mass production of 4nm memory products and LPUs for AI/HPC applications, and expand into AI/HPC, automotive, and aerospace customers. For Samsung, short-term profit elasticity mainly comes from the memory business. Foundry and logic chips remain medium-to-long-term variables, with the key lying in whether the expansion of advanced process customers and capacity ramp-ups can be realized. ## Continued Expansion of AI Infrastructure, High Visibility of Demand in Second Half Samsung management maintains a clearly optimistic outlook on performance in subsequent quarters and has provided relatively clear guidance on specific product roadmaps. **Q2 Outlook:** > - Continued expansion of AI infrastructure supports strong memory demand; > - The first batch of HBM4E samples will be delivered, strengthening technological leadership; > - The foundry business will expand its 2nm process customer base and advance the development of the 1.4nm process as planned; > - Chip supply shortages are expected to continue into the second half of the year, continuously supporting prices. Samsung also explicitly pointed out that the supply-demand gap for memory may further widen in 2027, indicating that the company holds a cautious and tight view on the medium-term supply landscape, providing fundamental support for memory price trends over the next 12 to 18 months. Risk Warning and Disclaimer The market carries risks, and investment requires caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice, nor does it take into account the specific investment objectives, financial status, or needs of individual users. Users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article align with their specific circumstances. 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