(22:47 GMT) *Samsung Electronics Sees 2Q Rev KRW171.000T Vs. KRW74.570T >005930.SE (22:47 GMT) *Samsung Electronics Sees 2Q Oper Pft KRW89.400T Vs. KRW4.680T >005930.SE (22:48 GMT) *Samsung Electronics 2Q Oper Pft Estimate Beat FactSet-Compiled Consensus (23:01 GMT) Samsung Forecasts Record 2Q Operating Profit
By Kwanwoo Jun
Samsung Electronics projected a 19-fold surge in second-quarter operating profit, signaling a continuation of its record earnings streak amid the artificial-intelligence boom and red-hot demand for chips to power AI infrastructure and applications.
The strong results from the world's largest memory chip maker are likely to help ease recent market concerns about the sustainability of AI computing-capacity spending. Shares in Samsung more than doubled in April to June, only to lose momentum this month as investors' jitters resurfaced.
The South Korean technology company said in a preliminary earnings report Tuesday that its operating profit likely reached an all-time high of about 89.400 trillion won, equivalent to $58.47 billion, for the three months ended June. That would be a 56% jump from the previous quarter's record.
The projected operating profit also surpassed a FactSet-compiled consensus estimate of 85.054 trillion won for the second quarter.
Quarterly revenue is forecast to have more than doubled to a record 171.000 trillion won, Samsung said.
Some analysts said that Samsung's operating profit would have topped the estimate had it not booked a provision for special bonuses payable early next year to employees in its chip-making division. Samsung in May agreed to allocate 10.5% of its semiconductor division's annual operating profit to special bonuses, contingent on the company meeting certain profitability benchmarks.
The company is scheduled to release full quarterly results, including a breakdown of earnings by business segment, later this month.
Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com