Samsung tips record second-quarter profit as memory prices surge

Seoul: Samsung Electronics on Friday said its second-quarter operating profit likely rose 72 per cent from a year earlier to a new record, beating analyst estimates, as strong memory chip prices helped widen margins.
Revenue likely rose 18 per cent from a year earlier to 60 trillion won, versus analysts' forecast of 59 trillion won.
On Tuesday, the company said it would invest $18.6 billion to extend its lead in memory chips and next-generation displays.
Samsung did not elaborate on its April-June performance and will disclose detailed results at the end of July. Even so, analysts have tipped its chip division to propel the firm to record overall profit.
Samsung estimated a record quarterly operating profit for April-June, propelled by a memory chip boom that analysts say will continue to pad margins for the rest of 2017.
The robust estimates reinforce expectations for best-ever earnings for Samsung this year, fuelled by a so-called memory chip supercycle. Analysts predict shortages for both DRAM and NAND chips to persist for the rest of this year due to limited supply growth and demand for more computing power on smartphones and servers, padding margins for memory makers.
Another profit driver has also emerged in the form of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays. Samsung has a stranglehold on the market for the bendy, next-generation screens which are widely expected to be used for Apple's latest iPhones, due out by October.
"In July DRAM prices will go up again, while from mid-August on, OLED panels go out for Apple," HMC Investment analyst Greg Roh said. He expects Samsung's third-quarter operating profit to exceed 15 trillion won.