Operating profit of 107.4 trillion won matched the company's own preliminary figure from earlier this month. Net profit of about 75 trillion won fell short of forecasts. Samsung expects memory supply to be tighter in 2027.
Samsung Electronics confirmed on Thursday the largest quarterly operating profit in its history. The market had heard the headline before.
The company reported third-quarter operating profit of 107.4 trillion won, matching the preliminary figure it published on Oct. 8 and roughly in line with the 107.66 trillion won analysts polled by LSEG expected. Revenue was 195.3 trillion won. Net profit was about 75 trillion won, below the roughly 84 trillion won analysts expected, according to Reuters.
Samsung declared a third-quarter dividend of 30 trillion won and said it expects memory supply to be tighter in 2027.
Why a record fell flat
Operating profit was already public. Investors had three weeks to price it, so the new information on Thursday was the net profit shortfall and the commentary. A gap of about 9 trillion won between expected and reported net profit, against an operating figure that was in line, points to items below operating profit, such as taxes, financial costs or one-time charges.
The reaction
Samsung shares closed down 4.1% in Seoul, after falling as much as 6.6% during the session. The Kospi fell 1.2%.
SK hynix, the other major Korean memory maker, rose 2.6%. The divergence suggests investors were not selling memory exposure as a whole. They appeared to be reacting to Samsung's numbers.
The selling in Seoul coincided with weakness elsewhere. Asian technology shares weakened alongside Alphabet's after-hours decline, and bitcoin fell below $80,000 during the Asian session.
What tighter memory supply means
Samsung's comment that it expects memory supply to tighten in 2027 is a signal for pricing. If supply grows more slowly than demand from AI servers and other customers, memory prices can rise, which benefits Samsung, SK hynix and Micron. That is the long-term case for the stock, even if Thursday's result disappointed.
Disappointment or opportunity?
The disappointment view: the record was known, net profit fell short, and in a market already questioning AI spending, a large miss below the operating line was enough to send the stock lower.
The opportunity view: operating profit is at a record, the dividend is large, management expects tighter supply next year, and a stock that falls on a known number may offer a better entry point.
What to watch
Details of the net profit shortfall, memory price trends in the fourth quarter, and Micron's next results.