Catenaa, Thursday, October 08, 2026- Asia’s two chip giants, Samsung and TSMC, posted massive earnings last quarter, driven by strong demand for AI chips.
Accordingly, Samsung reported an operating profit rise of nearly 800% year on year to $80.2 billion for the third quarter, up from $67 billion in the previous quarter.
The figure would be the highest quarterly operating profit the South Korean company has ever recorded and the highest quarterly earnings reported by a technology company, beating the $63.7 billion in operating income that Nvidia booked in its latest quarter.
Moreover, Samsung said that it expects third-quarter revenue to reach approximately $150 billion, up 127% year on year, which will also be a record earnings for the company.
The figure cleared the $79 billion consensus forecast tracked by LSEG, Reuters reported.
Samsung said it will release a full breakdown of results by business division on October 29.
The results mark another strong quarter for Samsung as demand for memory chips used in AI systems remains elevated.
Samsung and Micron Technology have both said they expect the supply-demand gap to continue through 2028, Reuters reported.
Reuters reported that performance varied across Samsung’s business divisions during the quarter.
Samsung’s mobile unit is estimated to have recorded an operating loss above $1 billion in the quarter, while the foundry division is also projected to stay in the red, with rising input costs weighing on the company’s consumer-oriented businesses.
Meanwhile, TSMC recorded earnings of approximately $47 billion for the quarter ending September, a 39% year-on-year increase.
The Taiwan chipmaker said September revenue rose 54.6% year-on-year to $16 billion, just 0.6% below August’s all-time monthly high.
Total revenue beat the top of TSMC’s guidance of $44.6 billion, coming in at $ 45.8 billion.
Revenue for the first nine months of 2026 totalled $122 billion, up 41.1% from the same period in 2025, the company said.
TSMC, whose customers include Nvidia and Apple, has seen its business grow amid accelerating demand for advanced AI chips, according to CNBC.
TSMC stock fell 0.6% in Thursday’s morning session.
The company is expected to release full third-quarter results next week, according to CNBC.
