Samsung Electronics just delivered what might be the most confusing earnings report of the year. The company posted a record operating profit of 89.4 trillion won, roughly $58.4 billion, for the second quarter of 2026. That’s a 19-fold increase compared to the same period last year.
The reward for this performance? Samsung shares dropped 6.9%, erasing more than $80 billion in market value at one point.
The numbers were great, the reaction was not
Samsung’s preliminary Q2 results, released on July 6, crushed expectations on the profit side. The operating profit was driven almost entirely by surging demand for AI-related memory chips, a trend that has now powered three consecutive quarters of record results for the company.
Revenue came in around 171 trillion won, though that figure slightly missed analyst estimates.
