South Korean technology giant Samsung Electronics announced on Tuesday that it expects a massive 19-fold surge in Samsung profits for the second quarter of 2026. Driven by an unprecedented global boom in artificial intelligence infrastructure, the company forecast a record operating profit of 89.4 trillion won ($58.4 billion) for the period between April and June.
According to the newly released earnings guidance, quarterly revenue more than doubled compared to the same period last year, reaching approximately 171 trillion won. This historic surge in Samsung profits directly reflects an ongoing global semiconductor supply squeeze, which has allowed the tech giant to steadily raise prices for its advanced memory chips as demand from international data centers continually outstrips available supply.
Despite the record-breaking projections, the company’s shares fell by more than 8 percent in Seoul on Tuesday morning as some market investors had anticipated even higher returns. Nevertheless, the manufacturer’s stock market value has more than doubled since the start of this year, boosting South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index. To maintain its global market edge against rising regional competition, the South Korean government recently finalized plans for an $880 billion chip manufacturing investment infrastructure project.
