Samsung's Financial Results Fall Short of Expectations

Samsung achieved an operating profit of 9.2 trillion won in the July-September period, compared to 2.4 trillion won in the same period last year and 10.4 trillion won in the previous quarter. The third-quarter results were slightly above Samsung's preliminary estimate of 9.1 trillion won announced earlier this month, although this figure fell below market expectations at that time. Yuanta Securities analyst Baik Gil-hyun stated, "Samsung Electronics has not been able to commercialize HBM as effectively as its competitors, which is why the third-quarter performance and fourth-quarter outlook remain below market expectations. It is expected to take some time for the business to perform as anticipated." The South Korean company issued a rare apology for its disappointing earnings this month, citing "delays" in sales of its advanced chips to an unnamed major customer and the increase in traditional chip supply from Chinese competitors as reasons. In the third quarter, Samsung's chip division turned around from a loss of 3.8 trillion won a year ago to an operating profit of 3.9 trillion won, but this figure was down from 6.45 trillion won in the previous quarter.