Samsung's $80 Billion Quarter Is Nearly Nine Times Last Year's. So Why Are Memory Stocks Slipping?

Samsung Electronics said Thursday that its operating profit for the quarter ended September is on track to hit a record 107.4 trillion won, or $80.18 billion, nearly nine times the level of a year earlier. The AI-driven memory-chip boom is the engine. Yet the market's reaction was muted: Samsung shares closed down 2.4% in South Korea, and Micron was down 1.5% in premarket trading.

The preliminary numbers

In won terms, Samsung projected revenue of 195 trillion won, more than double a year earlier but below the 206.81 trillion won analyst consensus cited by FactSet. The size of the revenue shortfall differs by data provider, from roughly 3% to 6%, but every version shows revenue landing short while profit landed on target.

A first for South Korea

If the estimate holds, Samsung will become the first South Korean company to book more than 100 trillion won in operating profit in a single quarter. The projected figure is more than twice the company's full-year 2025 profit and sits well above the roughly 89 trillion won it earned in the second quarter. It is also broadly in line with the FactSet consensus, so the headline number was largely expected even if the scale is striking.

Memory is doing the work

Samsung doesn't provide segment breakdowns with preliminary results, but the driver was almost certainly memory chips. Analysts expect tight supply and elevated chip prices to persist for years, with Samsung's semiconductor business offsetting weakness in mobile devices, appliances and other segments. For Micron, the read-through is that the strong earnings it posted last week may be matched by continued strength across the memory industry.

Why the stock market shrugged

Samsung shares closed down 2.4% in local trading. Micron fell 1.5% premarket after gaining 4.1% the previous day. Skeptics of the memory trade argue that profit figures this large simply mark a cyclical peak, a view that helps explain why Micron's own blowout earnings last week did little to move its shares.

The bulls counter that memory production is only expected to increase meaningfully from 2028, which would keep supply tight and extend the profit boom. That, in turn, is likely to fuel major stock buybacks: Samsung has already guided for 2026 shareholder returns of 90 trillion won to 110 trillion won.