Samsung Electronics' annual operating profit this year is expected to exceed the cumulative total of the past 40 years, with the second quarter potentially setting a new all-time high in the history of global technology companies.
BlockBeats News, July 6th - Samsung Electronics' semiconductor business strategy chief Kim Yong-kwan delivered an optimistic message at a department-wide meeting on July 3rd, stating that this year's operating profit is expected to meet market expectations. He mentioned that the cumulative profit of the semiconductor business over the 40 years of its operation is not as much as the profit for this year alone. The current market's expectation for Samsung Electronics' full-year operating profit in 2026 is around 300 trillion Korean won, with a second-quarter operating profit consensus forecast of 84.6 trillion Korean won. If achieved, this would surpass Nvidia's record of $53.536 billion in the first quarter of this year, setting a new global tech company single-quarter operating profit record. Kim Yong-kwan also emphasized that the company continues to invest over 40 trillion Korean won in annual capital expenditure and plans to further expand its investment to address the ongoing expansion of AI semiconductor demand.
The performance of South Korea's semiconductor "duopoly" is also noteworthy. SK Hynix's second-quarter operating profit consensus forecast is around 64.4 trillion Korean won, with a combined total of approximately 149 trillion Korean won for both companies, nearing 150 trillion Korean won. However, some market analysts point out that the recent price of the memory sector stocks has shown signs of peaking and falling back. Whether there will be further upside depends on whether the performance significantly exceeds expectations, the scale and duration of long-term supply contracts, and the price trend of memory in the second half of the year will be key observation variables.
In addition, SK Hynix's ADR will be listed on July 10th. HSBC has raised its target price from 2.9 million Korean won to 4 million Korean won, believing that the ADR listing will increase global investor accessibility, potentially bringing about a 20% valuation premium. JPMorgan Chase pointed out that the second-quarter earnings season will be a watershed for reevaluating the storage cycle.
