Samsung Electronics is about to pull back the curtain on what could be one of the most jaw-dropping quarters in semiconductor history. The company’s preliminary Q2 2026 earnings guidance, expected around July 7, will give investors their first real look at how the AI chip boom is reshaping the world’s largest memory maker.
Brokerage estimates peg Samsung’s Q2 operating profit at roughly 86 trillion KRW, which would represent a year-over-year increase of approximately 1,740%. That’s not a typo.
The numbers behind the AI chip supercycle
To understand why analysts are this bullish, you need to look at Samsung’s Q1 2026 results. The company posted a consolidated operating profit of 57.2 trillion KRW, roughly $38-39 billion, marking a 756% increase compared to the same period a year earlier.
The engine behind those numbers was Samsung’s Device Solutions division, the unit responsible for memory chips, system LSI, and foundry operations. DS revenue hit 81.7 trillion KRW in Q1, an 86% jump quarter-over-quarter. The semiconductor unit contributed over 93% of Samsung’s overall profits for the quarter.
