Samsung May Be Headed for Record Profits in 2026 as Memory Prices Explode

Samsung could be in for a huge jump in profits next year. A new report from KB Investment & Securities says Samsung’s operating profit could more than double in 2026 and reach about $66 billion. And all of this is happening because demand for memory chips is exploding again.

Samsung’s chip business is about to dwarf everything else it makes

This outlook comes after a strong year for Samsung’s chip division. The company pulled in $16 billion in operating income during the first nine months of 2025, and analysts think the fourth quarter alone could bring in more than $13 billion. KB Investment expects chips to account for almost 80 percent of Samsung’s total earnings during that stretch, far ahead of its phone, display, and home appliance businesses.

Memory prices have jumped more than 50 percent this month, and that surge is giving Samsung a major boost. KB Investment’s managing director, Kim Dong-Won says Samsung could get close to a record $14 billion in operating profit in Q4. He also says Samsung’s next wave of high-bandwidth memory, HBM4, is moving faster than expected and may clear quality checks before the end of the year (via UPI).

Samsung has trailed SK Hynix in the high-end HBM market that powers AI systems and supercomputers, but it has started to close the gap. The company is already producing HBM3E. During its latest earnings call, it confirmed that Nvidia is testing the upcoming HBM4 for a possible partnership.

All of this is pretty good news and might give Samsung a lift. Another market research report from Counterpoint suggests the company may lose its throne in the global smartphone market to Apple.