Samsung's Q4 Profit Outlook Predictions Miss the Mark Significantly

Samsung Electronics announced its fourth-quarter operating profit forecast, significantly missing analyst expectations due to falling behind rival SK Hynix in supplying high-end chips to Nvidia. According to the company, Samsung's earnings declined due to rising research and development costs, the need to increase production capacity for advanced chips, and a slowdown in demand for traditional memory chips used in PCs and mobile phones. No updates were provided regarding progress in supplying high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips for AI applications to Nvidia. The world's largest memory chip, smartphone, and TV manufacturer recorded an operating profit of 6.5 trillion won (4.47 billion dollars) for the quarter ending December 31, falling well short of the 7.7 trillion won LSEG SmartEstimate forecast. The estimated results were 131% higher than the same period last year but 29% lower compared to the third quarter. Although the third-quarter performance was better than the fourth quarter, it was disappointing enough to rarely warrant an apology from the company to investors in October.