Samsung Electronics estimates third-quarter 2026 operating profit at about 107.40 trillion Korean won

Samsung Electronics published preliminary earnings guidance on October 8, 2026 for the third quarter of the year, a period GSMArena notes runs from July to September. The company estimates consolidated sales of approximately 195 trillion Korean won and consolidated operating profit of approximately 107.40 trillion Korean won. Samsung says the estimates are based on K-IFRS; they are guidance figures rather than final quarterly results.

According to Samsung, Korean disclosure rules do not permit a company to publish earnings estimates as a range, so each headline number is the median of a range the company also disclosed. For sales, that range spans 194 trillion to 196 trillion Korean won; for operating profit, it spans 107.3 trillion to 107.5 trillion Korean won.

For comparison, Samsung lists consolidated K-IFRS figures for earlier periods. In the second quarter of 2026, sales came to KRW 171.5 trillion and operating profit to KRW 89.49 trillion. In the third quarter of 2025, the company recorded sales of KRW 86.06 trillion and operating profit of KRW 12.17 trillion. GSMArena converts the new estimates to roughly $145.33 billion in sales and $80 billion in operating profit.

Samsung's announcement does not explain the change in profit and gives no breakdown by business. GSMArena describes the third-quarter figure as a record surge in profit and attributes it to soaring demand for memory chips as the use of AI grows.

GSMArena also points to a recent South Korean media report according to which Samsung's Mobile eXperience (MX) division has begun reducing smartphone output for Q4 2026, with cuts of up to 30% expected. The outlet further cites an industry source as saying that Samsung smartphones currently earn no profit when sold, because memory and semiconductor prices are rising. Samsung's guidance does not address these reports.