AI demand is boosting the memory market
According to ChainCatcher, citing Reuters, Samsung Electronics is expected to post a major earnings rebound in the second quarter of 2026 as the rapid expansion of AI continues to tighten global memory supply and push chip prices higher. Reuters said the company’s operating profit for the quarter is expected to jump about 18 times year over year, highlighting how strongly AI-linked demand is feeding into the semiconductor supply chain.
The report points to a combination of persistent supply tightness in memory and substantial price increases across chips. That backdrop is especially important for Samsung because memory remains a core earnings driver for the company. As AI servers and related infrastructure require more high-performance memory, the recovery in pricing is having a larger impact on Samsung’s profit profile.
Higher chip prices are a key driver of profit recovery
From a market perspective, the continued buildout of AI infrastructure is supporting demand for advanced memory products, while supply has remained relatively constrained in the near term. That balance is helping prices move higher, and those gains are flowing through to the earnings outlook of major semiconductor manufacturers. The Reuters estimate for Samsung reflects that broader shift in industry conditions.
It is worth noting that the brief focuses on Samsung’s expected second-quarter result and does not provide additional financial details beyond the headline projection. Even so, the scale of the forecast — an 18-fold increase from a year earlier — suggests that the AI-driven upcycle in memory is materially improving profitability for one of the world’s largest chipmakers.