Samsung guidance reveals tenfold increase in profit for Q1 2024
Samsung announced today its earnings guidance for Q1 2024, where sales are expected to reach between KRW 70 and 72 trillion ($51-$53 billion). The more impressive figure, however, is the operating profit – between KRW6.5 and 6.7 trillion (just under $5 billion) – ten times more compared with the profit during the same period last year.
| (all units in KRW / USD) | Q1 2024 Earnings Guidance | Q3 2023 | QoQ Change | Q1 2023 | YoY Change |
| Sales | 71 trillion / 52 billion | 67.78 trillion / 50.09 billion | 4.75% | 63.75 trillion / 47.11 billion | 11.3% |
| Operating Profit | 6.6 trillion / 5 billion | 2.82 trillion / 2.08 billion | 134% | 0.64 trillion / 470 million | 931% |
The massive jump in profit should come from increased demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in AI chipsets, reported Reuters. According to an analyst who spoke with the agency, inventory valuation of NAND chips also may have improved, which would affect margins as well.
There is also the initial response to Galaxy S24"s on-device AI – while we don"t have the full details, we expect the better sales of the flagship phones also helped with profit.
The earnings guidance is the final estimate given by Samsung to the Korean authorities and regulators. The full report will arrive on the last Thursday of this month, when we"ll get the full breakdown of profit and sales by division.
