Samsung's record-breaking performance boosts the semiconductor sector, Shengke Communications rises over 10%

(Source: Caixin)

Samsung Electronics will disclose performance data on the 7th, confirming that the company’s operating profit for the first quarter of 2026, calculated in accordance with the consolidated financial statements reporting basis, is up 755% year-on-year, to 57.2 trillion won.

On April 7, the semiconductor sector surged amid market fluctuations, with Shengke Communication-U (688702.SH) rising by more than 10%. Kangqiang Electronics (002119.SZ), Demingli (001309.SZ), Qiangyi Shares (688809.SH), and Saiwei Electronics (300456.SZ) also moved up in tandem.

On the news front, according to a report by Yonhap News Agency, Samsung Electronics disclosed its performance data on the 7th and verified that the company’s operating profit for the first quarter of 2026, calculated on the basis of consolidated financial statements, increased by 755% year-on-year to 57.2 trillion won (approximately RMB 261 billion). Revenue rose by 68.1% year-on-year to 133 trillion won. Both operating profit and revenue hit record highs in history.

Analysts noted that with the rise of the artificial intelligence boom, demand for memory chips has surged. Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor business, backed by strong competitiveness, has driven the company’s overall performance to improve. Samsung Electronics did not disclose specific performance for each business segment that day. Analysts at securities firms forecast that the Device Solutions (DS) division, which is responsible for the chip business, will see first-quarter operating profit far exceeding 50 trillion won; the Mobile Experience (MX) and Network divisions, responsible for the smart phone and mobile device business, will achieve operating profit of more than 2 trillion won.

On the news front, South Korea, which is known as the “global trade barometer,” saw yet another record high in monthly exports. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources of South Korea’s latest data released on April 1 shows that in March, South Korea’s exports are expected to grow 48.3% year-on-year. The growth rate is not only faster than February (28.7%), but also higher than the previously predicted median value by economists (44.8%). This represents the strongest monthly export growth for South Korea since May 2021, and also marks the 10th consecutive month of year-on-year increases. Among them, the total export value in March was $86.13 billion, imports were $60.4 billion, and the trade surplus reached $25.74 billion, setting a historical record high. The rapid growth in exports mainly benefited from the surge in demand for memory chips and price increases driven by the global artificial intelligence investment boom. In addition, increases in petroleum product prices and one more working day in March compared with the same period last year also provided a boost to export growth.

Meanwhile, the global semiconductor industry is entering a new round of price-hike cycle. After memory chip prices continued to climb, analog chips, power devices, and the wafer foundry and outsourcing (foundry) process segments have also started to raise prices. International chip giants such as Texas Instruments (TXN.US), NXP (NXPI.US), and Infineon have increased the prices of some products effective April 1, with price increases reaching up to 85%. Domestic manufacturers are moving in step. Jinghe Integration (28.360, -0.09, -0.32%) will uniformly raise the prices of all wafer foundry products by 10% starting June 1. Analysts believe that as downstream demand recovers and the supply-side structure continues to improve, the semiconductor industry’s overall business conditions are expected to keep rebounding.

According to the latest data from the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS), in 2025, global semiconductor sales increased 25.6% year-on-year to $791.7 billion. It is forecast that in 2026, global semiconductor market sales will continue to maintain strong growth, with a year-on-year increase of 26.3%, reaching $975 billion. The Korea International Trade Association (KITA) expects that this year, South Korea’s exports of memory semiconductors will grow from $114 billion to $125 billion, an increase of 9.6%.

U.S. banks, Goldman Sachs, and other institutions have all strongly endorsed the semiconductor industry’s “super cycle.” For example, after recent communications with more than 10 memory manufacturers, a U.S. bank found that despite turmoil in the Middle East, the impact on the memory supply chain is negligible. With demand far exceeding current capacity, the tight supply-and-demand situation is expected to persist until the first half of 2027. Goldman Sachs believes that the fundamentals are stable at present, but market sentiment changes should be watched.

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