Samsung likely to post 35% surge in third-quarter profit as smartphone sales recover

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd’s September-quarter profit likely surged more than a third, fuelled by strong smartphone sales and a rush order of memory chips from Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, analysts said.

Samsung, the world’s biggest memory chip supplier, is scheduled to announce preliminary July-September operating profit and revenue on Thursday.

Profit likely rose 35% to 10.5 trillion won (£7.04 billion) from the same period a year earlier, according to Refinitiv SmartEstimate, derived from analyst estimates weighted toward those more consistently accurate. Revenue likely rose 3%.

While Samsung’s overall chip business was muted, analysts said orders from Chinese smartphone maker Huawei likely propped up sales. Huawei is likely to have built stockpiles before U.S. sanctions from mid-September prevented it from buying chips made using U.S. technology without a license, analysts said.