Samsung Posts Record Quarterly Profit as AI Boom Drives Chip Demand

Despite reporting its strongest quarterly profit in years, Samsung's shares fell as investors questioned whether the rapid growth in AI infrastructure spending can be sustained

Samsung Electronics has reported its highest quarterly operating profit in years, highlighting the continued strength of the global artificial intelligence boom. However, despite the impressive financial performance, the company's shares declined sharply as investors expressed concern over the long-term sustainability of AI-driven demand.

According to the company's preliminary earnings guidance, Samsung expects second-quarter operating profit to reach approximately 89.4 trillion won (about US$58.4 billion), representing a nearly 19-fold increase compared with the same period last year. The results exceeded market expectations and were driven primarily by robust demand for advanced memory chips used in AI data centres.

The surge in profitability reflects unprecedented investment by major technology companies in artificial intelligence infrastructure. Demand for high-performance memory chips has accelerated as cloud providers and AI developers continue expanding data centre capacity to support increasingly powerful AI models.

Despite the record earnings, Samsung shares fell during trading after investors questioned whether the current pace of AI-related investment can continue over the long term. Analysts warned that if spending by major technology companies slows, demand for semiconductor products could weaken, affecting future earnings across the global chip industry.

Samsung is expected to release its full quarterly financial results later this month, providing a detailed breakdown of performance across its semiconductor, mobile and consumer electronics divisions. Investors will closely monitor the outlook for the remainder of the year, particularly the company's expectations for AI-related demand and profitability.

Industry experts say Samsung's results underline how artificial intelligence has become the dominant force driving growth in the global semiconductor market. However, they also note that investor expectations have risen significantly, making future earnings performance increasingly dependent on sustained AI infrastructure investment.