Samsung Electronics posts "best-ever results," with quarterly operating profit topping 20 trillion won… "Semiconductors led" [Roundup]

Samsung Electronics announces Q4 and full-year results for 2025

Q4 operating profit 20.0737 trillion won… revenue about 94 trillion won

Full-year operating profit 43.6011 trillion won… revenue 333.7 trillion won

Strong HBM sales and rising memory prices proved effective

Samsung Electronics posted record quarterly revenue and operating profit in the fourth quarter of last year, backed by expanded sales of high value-added products such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and higher memory semiconductor prices.

Samsung Electronics said on the 29th that it recorded fourth-quarter revenue of 93.8374 trillion won and operating profit of 20.0737 trillion won. Revenue jumped 23.8% year on year and operating profit surged 209.2%, delivering the company’s best-ever quarterly results. Full-year revenue for last year came to 333.6059 trillion won, up 10.9% from a year earlier. Full-year operating profit was tallied at 43.6011 trillion won and net profit at 45.2068 trillion won, up 33.2% and 31.2%, respectively, year on year.

The strong fourth-quarter performance was driven by the semiconductor business. DS Division revenue rose 46.2% over the period to 44 trillion won, while operating profit soared 465% to 16.4 trillion won. The company said its Memory Business responded proactively to robust demand for commodity DRAM and expanded HBM sales, posting record quarterly revenue and operating profit. In particular, sales of high value-added products such as server DDR5 and enterprise SSDs contributed to improved profitability, it added.

The Foundry Business increased revenue as it moved in earnest to ramp up mass production of first-generation 2-nanometer products, but profitability improvement was limited due to the impact of provisions. The System LSI Business saw revenue grow on sales of new image sensor products.

The DX Division, which handles set businesses, posted revenue of 44.3 trillion won and operating profit of 1.3 trillion won. In MX, sales volume declined as the impact of new smartphone model launches faded, but the division maintained double-digit profitability on stable sales of flagship products and wearables.

Home appliances posted weaker results due to seasonal off-peak demand and the impact of global tariffs. Display recorded revenue of 9.5 trillion won and operating profit of 2 trillion won. Harman achieved revenue of 4.6 trillion won and operating profit of 300 billion won on expanded supply of in-vehicle products.

Samsung Electronics invested a record 37.7 trillion won in R&D last year to secure future technologies.

Samsung Electronics said it expects the semiconductor business growth trend to continue in the first quarter of this year, centered on demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and servers. Key plans include mass production shipments of HBM4 for the DS Division and the launch of the Galaxy S26 series for the DX Division.

On a full-year basis, it forecast continued risks including global tariffs and geopolitical uncertainty. It said it will continue responding to the market by pursuing a “one-stop solution” strategy spanning memory, foundry and packaging, and by expanding its AI product lineup.

Hong Min-seong, Hankyung.com reporter mshong@hankyung.com