Samsung Q4 2021 profit soars 52% year-over-year

Samsung has released a preliminary financial report for Q4 2021, showing a 52% increase in profit over last year’s fourth quarter. The company’s profit, estimated at 13.8 trillion won ($11.5 billion USD) represents Samsung’s highest Q4 profit since 2017.

The price of Samsung’s DRAM and NAND chips dropped slightly over the quarter, by 3-5%. However, these price changes were offset by increased demand for server chips, with Samsung clients increasing orders for both DRAM and NAND chips.

Even with a high-performance quarter, there was still some concern as the estimated profit missed Q4 predictions by 2 trillion won. However, this discrepancy was attributed to costs including new display panels, employee bonuses, and marketing for mobile which offset the total profit numbers.

While detailed Q4 earnings reports will not be available until the end of January, it is expected that the company will show a 23% total revenue increase year-over-year from Q4 2020.

Samsung’s financial results signal that the global memory market is improving more quickly than anticipated. Chip manufacturing production in Xi’an, China was disrupted this year due to COVID-19 lockdowns; but is expected to normalize over the next two months. In the meantime, high demand and restricted supply are working together to improve the overall market and help prices to rebound from slight drops in Q4 2021.

This strong performance has already had a positive impact on stock price, with share price rising 1.3% the morning after the announcement. It may also have contributed to a rise in stock price for European semiconductor stocks. Companies including Infineon, ASML, and AmsAG experienced a 2% rise after Samsung and competitor STMicroelectronics posted positive Q4 financial results.

Samsung’s positive Q4 financial news came shortly after the company’s strong showing at the CES 2022 event. The company won nine awards across the convention including Best of Innovation in Gaming for the new Odyssey line of monitors that were introduced.