Samsung Electronics reported on Tuesday what may stand as the most consequential earnings number in the semiconductor industry’s history: an estimated 89.4 trillion won ($58.4 billion) in second-quarter operating profit, a staggering 1,810 percent surge from the same period a year ago. The figure, which beats the consensus LSEG SmartEstimate by 6.2 percent, exceeds Samsung’s combined earnings over the prior three years and surpasses the quarterly records of even Nvidia, the company most synonymous with the artificial intelligence boom.
Revenue climbed 129 percent year-on-year to 171 trillion won, propelled by the relentless expansion of AI data centres that have pushed both DRAM and NAND flash memory prices to record highs. According to Citi Research, average selling prices for DRAM rose 44 percent quarter-on-quarter in Q2, while NAND prices jumped 53 percent, a reflection of the structural supply-demand imbalance that has defined the AI memory supercycle throughout 2026.
Yet the market’s reaction was brutal. Samsung’s shares plunged as much as 10.1 percent in morning trading on Tuesday, with rival SK Hynix tumbling 10.6 percent and the benchmark KOSPI index falling 10.9 percent. Analysts estimate that more than $100 billion was erased from Samsung’s market capitalisation in a single session. The selloff was not a rejection of Samsung’s current performance, it was a verdict on an uncertain future.
The core anxiety gripping investors is deceptively simple: can AI infrastructure spending sustain the pace that has turned memory chipmakers into the most profitable companies on Earth? Albert Yong, managing partner at Petra Capital Management, noted that Samsung’s results were “widely expected and had largely been priced in,” while investors remain “concerned about the sustainability of the AI boom and the risk of slower AI infrastructure spending by major US technology firms.”
That concern found some fuel in Samsung’s own numbers. Morningstar analyst Jing Jie Yu pointed out that the revenue estimate was “not as strong as expected,” likely driven by more moderate DRAM price hikes than anticipated. Notably, Samsung reached these profit levels even after setting aside substantial bonus provisions for semiconductor workers, without those charges, operating profit would likely have exceeded 100 trillion won, according to BNK Investment & Securities analyst Lee Min-hee.
The longer-term picture remains formidable but fragile. Samsung and SK Hynix are committed to an 800 trillion won public-private investment to build a new chip fabrication cluster in South Korea’s southwest, and Samsung has outlined plans to invest 2,100 trillion won domestically through 2040. Building new fabrication plants takes years, meaning supply will remain constrained even as hyperscale companies continue to ramp up AI spending. MS Hwang of Counterpoint Research argued that there is no evidence the gap between supply and demand is narrowing, and that delays would likely affect “less competitive players” rather than signal a broad slowdown. Still, as JPMorgan Asset Management’s Raisah Rasid cautioned, the triple-digit returns of the first half of 2026 are unlikely to be replicated. Samsung releases its detailed division-by-division results on July 30.