Samsung Electronics (005930) stock fell 6.9% on Tuesday after the company reported a 19-fold jump in second-quarter operating profit, wiping more than $80 billion from its market value.
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., SMSD.L
The South Korean chipmaker said Q2 operating profit came in at 89.4 trillion won (~$58.4 billion), beating the LSEG SmartEstimate of 87.3 trillion won. That compares to just 4.7 trillion won in the same period a year earlier.
Quarterly revenue is forecast to hit a record 171 trillion won (~$112 billion), more than doubling year-over-year.
Samsung Electronics prelim Q2 operating profit surged 19x YoY to ~$58.4B, above $55.3B consensus, on AI memory demand.
However, prelim Q2 revenue came in slightly shy at ~$111.8B, vs $113.1B consensus, though still up 129% YoY. pic.twitter.com/7YFzWAOSMl
— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) July 6, 2026
Despite beating expectations, the stock sold off hard. Samsung has surged roughly 382% over the past 12 months, and Tuesday’s results gave investors a reason to take money off the table.
Deutsche Bank analyst Jim Reid called it a bout of profit-taking, noting results were “only” 6% ahead of estimates.
Rival SK Hynix dropped 6.1%, and South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI fell 4.9% on the day.
The bigger worry for investors isn’t Samsung’s past earnings — it’s what comes next.
Analysts flagged concerns that U.S. hyperscalers including Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet may need to borrow heavily to fund AI infrastructure, with uncertain returns. That could weigh on chip demand going forward.
Morgan Stanley warned in a Monday report that weakness in semiconductor stocks would likely continue, as investors brace for “more capex discipline in the near-term” from big tech.
“The Semis trade finally started to lose momentum after a historic run since the end of March,” the bank said.
JPMorgan Asset Management’s Raisah Rasid said she’s confident earnings will come through but added that “we’re going to see a moderation” in returns, with triple-digit gains from the first half unlikely to repeat.
Memory chip prices did continue climbing in Q2. Citi Research said DRAM average selling prices rose 44% quarter-on-quarter, and NAND rose 53%. Rapid growth in high-bandwidth memory production has tightened supply of conventional memory used in smartphones, PCs, and servers.
Samsung’s profit figure also reflects a sizeable wage provision. The company agreed in May to link semiconductor worker bonuses to operating profit. Without those provisions, analysts said operating profit would have exceeded 100 trillion won.
Samsung’s foundry and logic chip divisions are expected to show wider losses in the quarter, as bonus expenses are spread across the semiconductor segment.
Full quarterly results, including a business-by-business breakdown, are due July 30.
Meanwhile, SK Hynix launched a U.S. share sale Monday to raise 43 trillion won (~$28B) in American depositary receipts. The stock is set to begin trading Friday — a further test of investor appetite for the sector.
Last week, both Samsung and SK Hynix announced investments worth hundreds of billions of dollars in new capacity. That buildout has itself raised concerns about oversupply if AI spending cools.
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