Samsung Electronics Co. on Thursday said it has posted record operating profit and sales in the fourth quarter of 2025 on strong sales of premium semiconductor products, including high bandwidth memory, amid the global artificial intelligence boom.
The company said in a regulatory filing that it posted 20.07 trillion won ($13.9 billion) in operating profit for the quarter, compared with 6.49 trillion won a year ago. Revenue rose 23.8 percent on-year to 93.83 trillion won.
Net profit came to 19.64 trillion won, up 153.3 percent from the same period in 2024.
The earnings beat market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 18.6 trillion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.
The device solutions division, which covers chips, also posted a record operating profit of 16.4 trillion won in the October-December period on the back of strong sales of general DRAM and HBM products, compared with 2.9 trillion won posted a year earlier.
Samsung Electronics said a hike in global memory prices, along with robust demand for premium products, including corporate-bound solid-state drives, also led to the record performance.
The device experience division, which includes mobile and TV businesses, posted a combined operating profit of 1.3 trillion won.
In detail, the mobile business posted an operating profit of 1.9 trillion won, down from 2.1 trillion won a year earlier.
The home appliances business posted an operating loss of 600 billion won, compared with an operating profit of 200 billion won in the fourth quarter of 2024, due mainly to global tariff issues, the company said.
In the fourth quarter, Samsung Electronics said it spent 10.9 trillion won on its research activities, leading to record annual spending of 37.7 trillion won to secure future growth engines.
The amount of facility investment for the October–December period reached 20.4 trillion won. The total spending for 2025 came to 52.7 trillion won, with the DS division accounting for 47.5 trillion won.
For all of 2025, Samsung Electronics posted a net income of 45.2 trillion won, up 31.2 percent from a year earlier.
Operating profit for the year was 43.6 trillion won, up 33.2 percent from the previous year, the company said. Annual sales rose 10.9 percent to 333.6 trillion won.
Samsung Electronics' annual operating profit across its entire business portfolio fell behind that of its chip rival SK hynix Inc. at 47.2 trillion won for the first time.
Looking ahead, Samsung Electronics said it expects to maintain growth led by the semiconductor business amid growing demand from the AI and server sectors.
The South Korean tech giant said it plans to proactively respond to strong demand for premium memory chips for AI solutions.
In terms of the mobile division, Samsung Electronics said it aims to take leadership in the smartphone sector with AI-related features, along with the new Galaxy S26 models set to be showcased next month.
The company said it will seek to bolster sales of home appliances by applying AI technology and focusing on premium lineups.
Samsung Electronics, meanwhile, noted lingering business challenges in 2026 in connection with uncertainties in global tariff policies and geopolitics.
The company said it will overcome such challenges by leveraging what it calls a "one-stop solution" for the chip industry, offering a comprehensive package of semiconductor production ranging from foundry to packaging.
"Samsung Electronics will continue efforts to maintain business stability centered on profitability while keeping watchful eyes on uncertainties in the macro environment, such as global tariffs," the company said in a release.
Samsung Electronics added it will offer special dividends worth 1.3 trillion won, bringing total payouts for the fourth quarter to 3.7 trillion won. Total dividends for fiscal 2025 amounted to 11.1 trillion won.
During a conference call held on the day, Samsung Electronics said it plans to start mass production and supply of HBM4 in February.
"In terms of HBM4, despite rising performance expectations from major clients, assessments have been proceeding smoothly since we supplied samples last year without a redesign," the company said.
The tech giant vowed to proactively address demand from the application-specific integrated circuit sector by supplying HBM4 products in a timely manner.
Samsung added that while AI-related demand is expected to remain solid this year, a sharp hike in memory prices may weigh on demand for mobile and PC products. (Yonhap)
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