Samsung, SK Hynix to post combined Q3 profit above 180 trillion won

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix will publish their confirmed third-quarter 2026 results this week: SK Hynix on 28 October and Samsung Electronics on 29 October, according to ineus24.com. Based on the figures disclosed by the two companies and market consensus, their combined operating profit is expected to exceed 180 trillion won.

Samsung Electronics had earlier announced preliminary third-quarter figures of 195 trillion won in revenue and 107.4 trillion won in operating profit. SK Hynix's third-quarter consensus stands at 98.2257 trillion won in revenue and 76.9640 trillion won in operating profit. On those numbers, the two companies' combined operating profit comes to about 184.36 trillion won.

Driving the results is memory. Supply of sixth-generation HBM4 for NVIDIA's next-generation AI accelerator Vera Rubin began in earnest and was reflected in third-quarter results. Market research firm TrendForce data shows general-purpose DRAM contract prices rose 13-18% quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter of 2026.

Foundry remains a drag for Samsung

Meritz Securities expects mobile memory prices supplied to major customers to rise more than 50% quarter-on-quarter from the first quarter of next year. On the non-memory side, securities analysts estimate Samsung's foundry business posted a loss of around 1 trillion won in the third quarter, with the Taylor, Texas plant continuing to weigh on costs.

The results follow SK Hynix's 23 October 2026 statement that it would halt review of a pre-IPO investment round and IPO for its US NAND subsidiary Solidigm, and its August 2026 plan to buy back and cancel about 40 trillion won of its own shares.