By Kwanwoo Jun
Samsung Electronics is scheduled to report preliminary second-quarter results on Tuesday. Here is what you need to know:
OPERATING PROFIT FORECAST: The South Korean technology company is forecast to post a record quarterly operating profit of 85.054 trillion won, equivalent to $55.62 billion, for the three months ended June, up 18-fold from a year earlier, according to a FactSet-compiled consensus estimate of 32 analysts.
REVENUE FORECAST: The company's quarterly revenue is expected to have more than doubled to 171.442 trillion won, according to FactSet.
The world's largest maker of memory chips has been a major beneficiary of the artificial-intelligence boom, helping its shares more than double so far this year. The stock doubled in the second quarter but lost some steam in July, weighed by concerns about the sustainability of AI spending and the possibility of excess AI computing capacity.
WHAT TO WATCH:
- RECORD EARNINGS: Investors will be watching whether Samsung continues to deliver record earnings. The company's operating profit is tipped to rise 49% from the first quarter's record figure, according to FactSet.
- BONUS: Some analysts said that Samsung's operating profit would have topped the consensus 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 upon the company hitting certain profitability benchmarks.
- CHIP: Samsung's chip-making division posted a record operating profit of 53.7 trillion won in the first quarter and is expected to drive faster growth in the company's overall earnings throughout the year, fueled by booming demand for AI chips. In June, Samsung said it would spend about 400 trillion won to build a new semiconductor-manufacturing hub in southwestern South Korea as part of a broader investment plan focused on chips and AI.
Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com