AI is printing money: Samsung made $80 billion in three months

Samsung Electronics posted its third-quarter results, and the numbers look like a typo. Operating profit for July through September came to 107.4 trillion won, roughly $80 billion. A year ago it was 12.2 trillion, so that's almost nine times more. Revenue hit a record too: 195.3 trillion won, more than double last year.

Samsung says it's the first tech company in the world to top 100 trillion won in quarterly operating profit. Net profit was about 75 trillion won, around $56 billion.

Nearly all of it came from chips. The semiconductor division made 106.5 trillion of the 107.4. AI data centers are buying up server memory and HBM4, the fast memory that sits next to AI accelerators. Samsung says its HBM supply for next year is already sold out, and big customers want more.

The flip side hits anyone buying hardware. Factories are busy making memory for AI, so regular DRAM for PCs and phones keeps getting pricier. Samsung expects demand to outrun supply even more in 2027 and the market to stay tight through 2028. Its main rival SK Hynix said a day earlier the shortage could last until 2030.

The rest of Samsung is in the red. The division that makes phones, TVs and appliances ended the quarter with an operating loss of 0.8 trillion won. Investors weren't impressed either: the stock dropped after the report, as the market wanted a stronger outlook and a shareholder payout plan.

Bottom line: the AI boom feeds whoever makes memory, and everyone else pays for it, including you when you buy your next laptop.