Samsung Electronics' operating profit fell 0.2% in the first quarter of 2025 but still beat estimates, thanks to strong demand for the company's memory chips and smartphones. The results came as customers worried about tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, Reuters reports.
Sales of Samsung's memory chips, which are used in consumer devices such as smartphones and artificial intelligence chips, exceeded expectations, analysts said, as some customers began stockpiling ahead of potential U.S. tariffs on semiconductors.
Donald Trump has imposed a series of reciprocal tariffs on trading partners, including China, but initially exempted semiconductors from them. A little later, the US president made a slightly different statement and said that the tariffs would soon apply to chips as well.
Samsung, the world's largest maker of memory chips, forecast 6.6 trillion won, or $4.49 billion, in operating profit for the January-March period, beating analysts' expectations of 5.1 trillion won. The company had similar figures in the same period a year earlier and slightly lower profit in the previous quarter.
"While general memory prices dipped, strong demand from customers looking to secure inventory ahead of potential U.S. tariffs helped boost Samsung’s memory chip shipments, supporting overall performance," said Hyundai Motor Securities head of research Greg Roh.
Roh also noted that AI features in the recently launched Galaxy S25 series of smartphones helped boost device sales. He added that early shipments of smartphones by North American customers before the tariffs were imposed likely impacted first-quarter results.
Samsung shares rose 2.6% after preliminary earnings reports, with an official report due on April 30. At the same time, shipments of both memory chips and smartphones are expected to decline in the second quarter of 2025.