Samsung Electronics shares hit record high

Spectacular growth: Record profits, high expectations

On October 16, 2025, shares of South Korea's leading electronics group - Samsung Electronics - increased by 2% in trading session, reaching 96,900 won/share (equivalent to 67.52 USD) on the Seoul Stock Exchange. This figure surpassed the previous high of 96,800 won, set in January 2021.

Samsung Electronics shares just hit an all-time high, surpassing the record set in 2021. The breakout was fueled by investor confidence in the recovery of the semiconductor industry and the global boom in Artificial Intelligence (AI) chips.

Thus, since the beginning of 2025, Samsung's stock price has increased by 80%, affirming the company's leading position in the global technology industry.

The upside momentum comes shortly after Samsung announced its forecast for operating profit in the third quarter of 2025 at around 12.1 trillion won ($8.5 billion), up 30-32% year-on-year – the highest in more than three years. Consolidated revenue is also estimated to rise nearly 9% to around 86 trillion won, marking the third consecutive quarter of strong growth.

AI chip "tsunami" and the recovery of the DRAM/NAND market

The main driver behind the surge was surging demand for memory chips from global AI data centers, which are attracting huge investment inflows. The market recorded a strong recovery and soaring prices of traditional memory chips such as DRAM and NAND, which are Samsung's core businesses.

Mr. Park Sang-kyung, an economic and technology expert at the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI), commented:

"DRAM chip prices have surged as much as 171.8% year-on-year, according to TrendForce data. Samsung, the world's largest memory maker, is maximizing profits from this recovery. The third-quarter results are not just a short-term financial boost, but also confirmation that the semiconductor market has truly entered a new growth cycle after a recession."

Investor confidence is also bolstered by expectations that Samsung will play a key role in the global AI wave. Despite fierce competition, the group is accelerating investment to expand advanced chip production and foundry.

Notably, major deals like the $16.5 billion deal with Tesla to produce chips over the next eight years have helped Samsung’s foundry business grow revenue by about 10% annually, a positive sign that the company is gradually regaining its position in a field that was once under great pressure from rival TSMC.

HBM bottlenecks and fierce competition

Despite its peak in stock price and profit, Samsung Electronics still faces huge challenges, especially in the high-tech race and increasingly complex geopolitical risks.

The biggest challenge today is high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, which are essential for AI servers and high-performance computing.

Despite being the world's number one memory chip maker, Samsung is lagging behind in the HBM segment – where rivals like SK Hynix and Micron dominate.

"Samsung is working hard to complete its HBM chips to meet Nvidia's standards, but the delivery progress is still slow," said Daniel Kim, an analyst at Macquarie Equity Research. "SK Hynix currently holds the majority of the global HBM market share. The slow response in the high-margin AI chip segment makes Samsung more vulnerable."

In the second quarter of 2025, the operating profit of the device solutions division (chip manufacturing) fell by 94% year-on-year, mainly due to low efficiency in the foundry segment and the impact of the US's policy of controlling the export of advanced chips to China.

Geopolitical pressures and technology investment strategies

Samsung is also under great pressure from the US-China trade conflict and high-tech export control barriers. These factors force the group to diversify its supply chain and increase investment abroad, especially in the US (Texas) and Vietnam - two markets that are considered to have a stable production environment.

"Focusing on HBM chips and 2nm foundry is consuming huge resources. However, Samsung is taking advantage of record profits from the DRAM/NAND segment to reinvest in R&D and AI chip production. This strategy is an inevitable step if it wants to consolidate its position in the future technology race," said Lee Jae-min, senior advisor at the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association (KSIA).

At the end of 2024, Samsung also announced a plan to buy back 10 trillion won (about 7.19 billion USD) worth of treasury shares - a move seen as aimed at supporting stock prices, increasing shareholder value and consolidating the control of the founding family.

Source: https://vtv.vn/co-phieu-samsung-electronics-dat-muc-cao-ky-luc-100251016232007646.htm