Samsung Electronics reported third-quarter operating profit that was better than expected despite dropping 77.6% from a year ago. The company expects fourth quarter demand for memory chips to pick up, driven by year-end promotions, new product launches by its major customers, and strong demand for generative AI.

• Samsung's third-quarter operating profit was better than expected, despite declining 77.6% from a year ago.
• The company expects fourth quarter demand for memory chips to pick up, driven by year-end promotions, new product launches by its major customers, and strong demand for generative AI.
• Samsung will be expanding its sales of advanced-node products to meet demand for high performance chips in generative AI.

Samsung's third-quarter operating profit of 2.43 trillion Korean won beat analysts' expectations of 2.3 trillion Korean won. Revenue for the quarter was 67.4 trillion Korean won, versus estimates of 67.8 trillion Korean won.

Samsung's memory chip business, which accounts for the majority of its profits, has been hit hard by a global glut. However, the company is seeing some signs of recovery, with demand for high-performance chips in generative AI picking up.

Samsung said it expects fourth quarter demand for memory chips to improve, driven by year-end promotions, new product launches by its major customers, and strong demand for generative AI. The company is also expanding its sales of advanced-node products to meet demand for high performance chips.

Samsung's earnings report is a positive sign for the memory chip industry, which has been struggling with a glut for the past year. The company's expectations for fourth quarter demand are also a good sign for the overall semiconductor industry.

Additional details:

• Samsung is expected to supply high-performance DRAM chips and HBM3 to U.S.-based chip designer Nvidia.
• Samsung is also expanding its sales of advanced-node products, such as DDR5 and UFS4.0.
• Analysts expect Samsung's earnings to rebound in 2024, driven by strong demand for AI chips and advanced-node products.