By Kwanwoo Jun

LG Electronics projected a more than twofold increase in second-quarter operating profit, driven by a U.S. tariff refund and resilient profitability across its home-appliance, television and vehicle-component businesses.

The upbeat forecast means the South Korean consumer-electronics titan remains on course for an earnings recovery this year, following a swift profit turnaround in the first quarter, as it continues to expand into new businesses such as artificial-intelligence data-center cooling systems and robotics.

LG attributed the strong projected earnings in part to its recognition of a U.S. tariff refund, without disclosing the amount. The Trump administration has been told to start returning companies more than $130 billion in duties it collected in the global tariffs invalidated by the Supreme Court in February.

The company said in a preliminary earnings report Tuesday that operating profit likely came in at 1.579 trillion won, equivalent to $1.03 billion, for the April-June period, more than doubling from a year earlier. The projected figure topped analysts' estimates, which were for 1.071 trillion won, according to a FactSet-compiled consensus.

LG said both operating profit and revenue were the highest for any second quarter in its history.

Revenue is expected to have climbed 15% to 23.830 trillion won for the quarter, the company said, also exceeding market expectations. It said premium home appliances and TVs led the sales growth, while air-conditioner sales got a boost from seasonal demand. Sales of vehicle components, including high-end infotainment systems, also continued to rise, the company said.

Shares in LG Electronics have nearly doubled this year amid the company's continued push for AI and new businesses, and as investors gained confidence in its earnings momentum and resilient growth in its core businesses despite challenges.

Besides the tariff refund, Hana Securities analyst Minkyung Kim said she expects LG Electronics to gain from price hikes and cost-efficiency measures, even as raw-material and logistics costs rise. Strong earnings at affiliate LG Innotek, an Apple supplier, may also have helped boost LG Electronics' profit, according to Kim.

LG Electronics' aggressive expansion into AI and robotics is also expected to drive new growth momentum, analysts said. The company is advancing the proof-of-concept feasibility test for its CLOiD home robot--designed to autonomously handle household chores such as cooking, cleaning and laundry--to 2026 from 2027, underscoring its accelerating push into AI and robotics.

LG is also pushing hard for new business-to-business growth in heat pumps and AI data-center cooling systems, and deepening its collaboration with Nvidia on physical AI.

The company is scheduled to release its full quarterly results later this month.

Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 07, 2026 00:21 ET (04:21 GMT)

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