Samsung posts Q1 operating profit of US$ 4.5 billion

In the corporate arena.

Samsung Electronics posted what pundits are calling a "RESILIENT" first-quarter profit on the back of strong semiconductor and smartphone demand.

Our Shin Se-byuck has more.

Samsung Electronics, in its earnings guidance on Tuesday, estimated a first quarter operating profit of 6-point-6 trillion Korean won or roughly 4-point-5 billion U.S. dollars.

The figure beats market expectations of around 3-point-5 billion dollars, thanks to strong sales of the tech giant's latest flagship smartphones, despite being down point-1-5 percent from a year earlier.

The market had projected weaker earnings due to delayed shipments of its fifth-gen HBM chips and falling memory prices, but brisk sales of the Galaxy S25, launched in February, pushed results well above forecasts.

Stronger-than-expected DRAM shipments also contributed to the upbeat performance.

Revenue rose nearly 10 percent on-year to 79 trillion won or around 54 billion dollars, close to the all-time high of 79-point-1 trillion won posted in the third quarter of last year.

Samsung did not disclose earnings by business division this time.

However, market watchers estimate the MX division, which oversees smartphones, posted an operating profit of over 2-point-7 billion dollars.

The Device Solutions division, responsible for semiconductors, is projected to have logged an operating profit of around 681 million dollars.

With memory chip prices on the rise, expectations are growing for Samsung's performance in the coming quarters.

But an expert warns that uncertainties remain.

"Because of the tariffs and because of the uncertainty and because of the slowing down of the American economy, I think performances for the second quarter would not be as dramatic as the first quarter and possibly are significantly lower than the first quarter."

The company's final earnings report will be released later this month.

Shin Se-byuck, Arirang News.