--- title: "The price surge of storage chips continues! Samsung's Q2 operating profit skyrocketed 18 times, setting a new historical high" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/291855677.md" description: "Samsung Electronics released its preliminary performance for Q2 2026, with revenue increasing by 129% year-on-year to KRW 171 trillion, driven by rising prices of memory chips influenced by AI. Operating profit soared 18 times year-on-year to KRW 89.4 trillion, setting a new historical high and exceeding expectations. This marks Samsung's third consecutive quarter of record profits, highlighting the strong driving effect of AI on advanced chip prices" datetime: "2026-07-07T00:25:38.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/291855677.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/291855677.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/291855677.md) --- # The price surge of storage chips continues! Samsung's Q2 operating profit skyrocketed 18 times, setting a new historical high **Financial Associated Press, July 7 (Editor: Bian Chun)** On Tuesday (July 7), Samsung Electronics, the world's largest memory chip manufacturer, released its preliminary performance for the second quarter of 2026, **showing that the company's revenue and profit both surged due to the continued rise in storage chip prices driven by artificial intelligence (AI). The quarterly operating profit reached an all-time high, exceeding market expectations**. According to preliminary results, **Samsung Electronics' operating profit for the period from April to June this year was 89.4 trillion won (approximately 58.44 billion USD), soaring 18 times from 4.7 trillion won in the same period last year, and surpassing the LSEG SmartEstimate of 87.3 trillion won**. This marks the third consecutive quarter in which Samsung achieved record operating profit. This figure exceeds the total operating profit for Samsung from 2023 to 2025. Preliminary results also showed that Samsung Electronics' revenue in the second quarter increased by 129% year-on-year, reaching 171 trillion won. This performance far exceeded that of the previous quarter, marking another record quarter for Samsung and highlighting how the booming development of artificial intelligence has significantly pushed up the prices of high-bandwidth memory and other advanced chips. In the first quarter of this year, Samsung's revenue was 133.9 trillion won, with an operating profit of 57.2 trillion won. Samsung is expected to release its complete performance report later this month, including detailed earnings from its various businesses. As both labor and management at Samsung recently finalized a special operating performance fund equivalent to 10.5% of annual performance, industry insiders believe that approximately 19 trillion to 20 trillion won in incentive reserves have already been reflected in the second quarter results. The market currently expects Samsung Electronics' operating profit for the entire year of 2026 to be around 300 trillion won. The head of Samsung Electronics' semiconductor business strategy expressed optimism at a related meeting on July 3, stating that "this year's operating profit will exceed the cumulative profit of the semiconductor business over the past 40 years." **Continued Rise in Storage Chip Prices** This quarter, as AI spending expanded from high-bandwidth memory (HBM) to traditional DRAM and NAND products, storage chip prices continued to rise. Analysts pointed out that the rapid growth in HBM production has led to a tightening supply of traditional memory products used in smartphones, personal computers, and enterprise servers, further supporting prices. Citi Research stated last week that the average selling prices of DRAM and NAND increased by 44% and 53%, respectively, quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter. Analysts also noted that customers are increasingly seeking to sign long-term supply agreements, which further reinforces expectations that memory prices will remain high for an extended period, benefiting manufacturers like Samsung that have large-scale production capacity According to industry insiders, Samsung Electronics is currently negotiating with customers, aiming to increase the average selling price of DRAM in the third quarter of this year by 20% compared to the previous quarter ### Related Stocks - [SMSN.UK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SMSN.UK.md) - [07347.HK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/07347.HK.md) - [07747.HK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/07747.HK.md) - [03121.HK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/03121.HK.md) - [EWY.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/EWY.US.md) - [09347.HK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/09347.HK.md) - [09747.HK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/09747.HK.md) - [SSNGY.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SSNGY.US.md) - [C.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/C.US.md) - [C-R.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/C-R.US.md) ## Related News & Research - [Samsung Stock Tanks In Seoul Even As Company Reports Record Preliminary Q2 Operating Profit of $58.4 billion](https://longbridge.com/en/news/291878799.md) - [BREAKINGVIEWS-Memory giants install limited buffer against slump](https://longbridge.com/en/news/291877245.md) - [Key facts: U.S. Suit Names SK hynix Over DRAM Cuts; June Exports Rise](https://longbridge.com/en/news/291473953.md) - [DRAMageddon Deepens As Samsung Prepares 20% Memory Price Hike](https://longbridge.com/en/news/291705558.md) - [China's memory chip gap with Samsung, SK Hynix narrowed to under three years: Counterpoint](https://longbridge.com/en/news/291877376.md)