While you pay through the nose for memory, Samsung expects to triple its profits in Q4

While end customers grapple with crushing memory prices, we imagine Samsung execs are breaking out the Champagne. This week the memory titan forecast fourth-quarter operating profit would roughly triple as the South Korean electronics cabal rides the AI wave into the New Year.

In a financial disclosure published Thursday, Samsung predicted Q4 operating profits would come in at $13.77 billion (20 trillion won), up from $4.4 billion (6.49 trillion won) a year ago. Meanwhile, Samsung expects revenues to grow by approximately 23 percent year over year to $64 billion (93 trillion won).

Samsung is one of the leading producers of NAND flash and DRAM memory, prices for which have exploded over the past few months as inventory levels have been strained by intense demand for AI accelerators and servers.

Memory prices are expected to continue climbing sharply over the next few quarters. This is bad news for ...