Samsung Electronics disclosed preliminary second-quarter results on July 7 that surpassed analyst expectations by a wide margin, only to see its share price slide on the same morning.
The company reported consolidated operating profit of 89.4 trillion won for the April-to-June quarter, a rise of roughly 1,810 percent compared with the same period a year earlier. Revenue came in at 171 trillion won, up about 129 percent year-on-year. Both figures beat the previous quarter, itself a record, by 56 percent and 28 percent respectively, making it three consecutive quarters of all-time highs.
The result also cleared the average analyst forecast of roughly 84.8 trillion won compiled by financial-data provider FnGuide, qualifying as what Korean markets call an 'earning surprise.'
The driver, according to Hankyoreh, is a shortage of memory chips that has pushed prices sharply higher, fuelled by surging demand for artificial-intelligence hardware. Pressian noted that the single quarter's profit exceeded the whole of last year's total by more than double.
One wrinkle: the preliminary figures already include a provision for employee performance bonuses agreed with labour representatives. Industry observers cited by Hankyoreh estimate that provision at close to 20 trillion won, implying that underlying operating profit before the charge may have exceeded 100 trillion won.
Breakdowns by business division were not published alongside the preliminary filing, as is standard practice. Full results are expected later this month.
Despite the numbers, Samsung's share price fell roughly 5 to 6 percent in early trading to around 301,000 won, slipping below the psychologically watched 300,000-won level at points during the session, according to Khan and Hankyung. SK Hynix, the other major Korean memory chipmaker, also declined. Market participants attributed the sell-off to profit-taking after a sharp run-up in the weeks before the announcement, with the strong results judged to have already been priced in.
The broader Kospi index dropped more than 3 percent, falling below the 8,000-point threshold in early trading, Asia Economy reported. Hanwha Ocean, which separately announced it had lost a major Canadian submarine contract, fell more than 20 percent and weighed on the index.