Samsung fabs memory gold

Samsung is turning flash bits into cash at an accelerating rate as rising memory prices sent its preliminary first quarter operating profit up more than eightfold year-on-year.

Fueled by sky-high HBM prices, echoing Micron's massive profit rise last month, and following on from substantial earlier profit records by Samsung itself and SK hynix, the Korean giant delivered preliminary Q1 2026 revenues up 68 percent year-on-year to ₩133 trillion ($88.5 billion).

Operating profit rose 755 percent to ₩51 trillion ($37.9 billion). This is more than Micron's entire revenues ($23.86 billion) for its latest quarter, and comfortably beats SK hynix's revenues of ₩32.8 trillion reported in January, suggesting SK hynix revenues and profits will also see a mighty jump when it reports its latest financial numbers on April 23.

Samsung didn’t reveal any more numbers. Two charts show the spectacular scale of its revenue and operating profits rise:

The revenue and profits trend since 2021 shows a sudden and substantial rise in both this quarter, while one contrasting quarterly revenue performance by fiscal year shows the abrupt revenue rise this latest quarter in stark relief:

This level of revenue and profitability is set to continue as HBM and DRAM demand remains strong while NAND memory prices are also rising. It's a triple lock in effect. Samsung is reporting its full quarterly numbers on April 30 and then we’ll get a better insight into the relative contributions of HBM, DRAM, and NAND to its revenues.