Samsung surpasses Nvidia in quarterly profits driven by AI

What happened?

Samsung Electronics posted an operating profit of €51.5 billion in the second quarter of 2025, the highest figure ever achieved by a tech company in a single quarter. This result surpasses Nvidia's €46.3 billion (July 2025) and Apple's €44 billion (late 2024). Revenue grew 129% year-over-year, and profit surged 1,810% in the same period, according to data reported by Xataka. This milestone comes just days after Kim Yong-kwan, president of Samsung's semiconductor division, internally communicated that 2025 profit would exceed the cumulative profit of the previous 40 years in semiconductors. The close of the second quarter has proven him right in a resounding way.

Why is this important?

This milestone demonstrates that massive investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure is generating extraordinary returns, not only for GPU makers like Nvidia but also for suppliers of critical components like memory. Samsung, along with SK Hynix and Micron, dominates the production of HBM (High Bandwidth Memory), essential for AI accelerators. According to Xataka, Samsung was the first supplier chosen by Nvidia for HBM4 memory, used in its new AI platform. The company sells all its production before manufacturing it, reflecting insatiable demand. This dominance gives Samsung unprecedented pricing power, similar to what Intel had in the PC era, but in a market growing at exponential rates.

Historical context

Samsung's semiconductor division went through difficult years before 2024. Between 2022 and 2023, the company suffered a historic profit decline due to memory oversupply and weak consumer demand. In early 2024, green shoots began to appear, with a recovery driven by demand for server chips and, above all, the explosion of AI investment. That recovery accelerated in 2025, turning those shoots into a blooming field. The division's president, Kim Yong-kwan, had anticipated that 2025 profit would exceed the cumulative profit of the previous 40 years in semiconductors. The close of the second quarter has proven him right: in just three months, Samsung earned more than in all of 2025 (according to previous estimates) and surpassed Nvidia's quarterly record, which until then was the highest in tech history. This achievement is comparable to Apple's leap in 2015 with the iPhone 6, but in a much shorter timeframe and in a capital-intensive sector like semiconductors.

Consequences and implications

• For Samsung: It consolidates its position as a leader in AI memory, with the ability to set prices and secure long-term contracts. The company has pledged joint investments with SK Hynix of $880 billion in chips and AI, a bet on long-term survival. However, the market reaction has been mixed: Samsung's stock fell 7% after the announcement, possibly due to already priced-in expectations or concerns about growth sustainability.
• For Nvidia: Although it remains the benchmark in GPUs, it depends on Samsung and others for HBM memory. Being surpassed in profits does not imply a loss of relevance, but it shows that the AI ecosystem distributes gains among several players. Nvidia, for its part, has seen its market share in AI GPUs remain above 80%, but HBM memory shortages limit its production.
• For the consumer market: The question of whether sacrificing the consumer market for AI was worth it finds a partial answer: Samsung shows that focusing on AI generates record profits, even though the consumer market (smartphones, appliances) has been sidelined. Galaxy S25 sales, while solid, are not the main profit driver.
• For investors: The 7% stock drop suggests the market had already partially priced in these results, or there are doubts about Samsung's ability to maintain this pace. Dependence on a single customer (Nvidia) and the cyclical volatility of memory are risks analysts point out.

What should readers know?

AI benefits not only software companies or high-performance chip makers. The semiconductor supply chain, especially high-bandwidth memory, has become a bottleneck and a source of enormous profits. Samsung, long seen as a mature and cyclical company, has re-emerged as an AI giant. However, dependence on a single sector (AI) and memory price volatility are risks to consider. Additionally, competition from SK Hynix and Micron, as well as Nvidia's efforts to diversify suppliers, could erode Samsung's power in the future. For now, the moment is sweet: Samsung has shown that AI is not just a bubble but a driver of real profits for those in the right place in the value chain.