Samsung Electronics Posts 20 Trillion Won in Q4 Operating Profit... New Domestic Record Driven by HBM

Record-High Sales Both Annually and Quarterly
Semiconductor Operating Profit Surpasses 16.4 Trillion Won
"Earnings Surprise" Exceeds Market Consensus

Samsung Electronics achieved its highest-ever quarterly results in the fourth quarter of last year, surpassing 20 trillion won in operating profit, driven by a boom in its memory business. This marks the first time in the history of South Korean companies that quarterly operating profit has exceeded 20 trillion won. The strong performance of the Device Solutions (DS) division, which oversees the semiconductor business, led the overall results.

Yonhap News

On January 29, Samsung Electronics announced that its sales for the fourth quarter of last year reached 93.8374 trillion won, with operating profit at 20.0737 trillion won. Both sales and operating profit set new quarterly records. Sales increased by 23.82% compared to the same period last year, while operating profit surged by 209.17% over the same period.

For the full year, sales amounted to 333.6059 trillion won and operating profit reached 43.6011 trillion won, up 10.9% and 33.2%, respectively, from the previous year. Annual sales marked an all-time high, while operating profit ranked fourth in the company's history, following 2018 (58.89 trillion won), 2017 (53.65 trillion won), and 2021 (51.63 trillion won).

This performance constitutes an 'earnings surprise,' far exceeding the average forecasts (consensus) of securities firms. Analysts had projected fourth-quarter sales at 92.5445 trillion won and operating profit at 19.6457 trillion won.

The record-breaking results were underpinned by a sharp rise in memory prices and a recovery in competitiveness for high bandwidth memory (HBM). The DS division, centered on memory semiconductors, posted sales of 44 trillion won and operating profit of 16.4 trillion won. By proactively responding to strong demand for standard DRAM and expanding HBM sales, the division achieved its highest-ever quarterly sales and operating profit.

The Device Experience (DX) division recorded sales of 44.3 trillion won and operating profit of 1.3 trillion won. While the Mobile Experience (MX) segment saw a decline in fourth-quarter shipments due to a reduced impact from new model launches, annual results maintained double-digit profitability thanks to growth in flagship sales and stable sales of tablets and wearables.

Harman reported sales of 4.6 trillion won and operating profit of 300 billion won. Samsung Display posted sales of 9.5 trillion won and operating profit of 2 trillion won.

Industry observers suggest that, riding the upward trend in memory prices, Samsung Electronics could achieve 18 trillion won in operating profit this year. Kiheon Ahn, Executive Director of the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association, stated, "The record-breaking results were significantly influenced by the rise in memory semiconductor prices since the second half of last year," adding, "The upward trend in memory prices is expected to continue going forward."