Five major memory chip manufacturers' combined operating profit in Q3 reached approximately 32 trillion yen, surpassing the five largest US tech giants
According to QUICK FactSet data, in the third quarter of 2026, the five major memory chip manufacturers—Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Micron Technology, Kioxia, and SanDisk—had a combined operating profit of approximately 32 trillion yen, a 10-fold increase compared with the same period last year, surpassing the combined approximately 25 trillion yen of Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Apple. Samsung Electronics' operating profit for the quarter was 107.44 trillion won, up about 783% year on year; SK Hynix's operating profit was 83.33 trillion won, with an operating margin of 80%. The profit growth mainly came from demand for HBM from AI data centers; manufacturers shifting capacity to HBM squeezed the supply of general-purpose DRAM, and Samsung's average DRAM selling price in the third quarter rose about 20% quarter on quarter, while HBM4 sales grew more than threefold quarter on quarter.
Why read this
AI score 64
The original article uses FactSet data to compare the quarterly profits of memory manufacturers with those of the US tech giants, and explains the causal link of HBM demand driving up prices.
Topics
Body · AI translation
On November 2, according to QUICK FactSet data, in the third quarter of 2026, the five major global memory chip manufacturers (Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Micron Technology, Kioxia, and SanDisk) together posted operating profit of approximately 32 trillion yen (note: about 1.52 trillion yuan), a tenfold surge compared with the same period last year.
During the same period, the five major U.S. tech giants (Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Apple) together posted operating profit of approximately 25 trillion yen (note: about 1.19 trillion yuan). This is the first time that memory manufacturers' single-quarter profit has comprehensively surpassed these U.S. tech giants that have long ranked at the top of the profit list in aggregate terms.
Samsung Electronics' performance was particularly outstanding. Its third-quarter operating profit reached 107.44 trillion won (note: about 522.8 billion yuan), up about 783% year on year, making it the world's first tech company to exceed 100 trillion won in single-quarter operating profit.
SK Hynix's operating profit for the quarter was 83.33 trillion won (note: about 415.8 billion yuan), with an operating margin as high as 80%, setting a record high.
Micron's adjusted operating profit was US$44.64 billion (note: about 299.7 billion yuan), with an operating margin also reaching 82.3%.
The direct driver of the profit surge is frenzied demand for HBM from AI data centers. Memory manufacturers have shifted production capacity on a large scale to higher-margin HBM, squeezing supply of general-purpose DRAM and pushing prices steadily higher.
Samsung's average DRAM selling price in the third quarter rose about 20% quarter on quarter, and HBM4 sales grew more than threefold quarter on quarter. The memory industry's operating margin climbed from about 10% in the first half of 2025 to nearly 70%, and one analyst said bluntly that memory prices have already risen tenfold over the past year and a half.
But the dramatic reversal in profit concentration has also raised market concerns about the sustainability of the cycle. Once AI capital expenditure slows, consumer electronics customers such as PCs and smartphones may already have cut back purchases because of high costs, and memory manufacturers will then face the risk of a demand gap.