Samsung shares jump 7.2% as AI server revenue estimates improve
Key Facts
Samsung Electronics shares jumped 7.2% to 226,750 won during trading on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, according to Investing.com, as estimates improved for Supermicro's AI server business. The move followed the U.S. company's preliminary business update, which raised revenue and gross margin forecasts for the first quarter of fiscal 2027. Supermicro attributed the higher revenue estimates primarily to increased demand for AI platforms, a sector in which Samsung had forecast accelerating demand for memory products used in servers. The recovery extended to the Korean market, where the Kospi index rose more than 3% during the same session, according to Investing.com. Samsung shares reached that price during trading, rebounding after a selloff in Korean memory stocks.
Supermicro estimated revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2027 at between $18.5 billion and $19.5 billion, compared with a previous range of $14.5 billion to $15.5 billion, according to its statement. On profitability, it estimated a gross margin of between 12.0% and 12.5%, compared with its previous guidance of between 10.4% and 10.8% for the same fiscal period. The company attributed the revision to its margin outlook primarily to its customer and product mix, while linking the revenue revision to demand for its platforms. Explaining the higher sales estimates, it cited "increased demand for AI platforms," according to the preliminary update published for investors. Supermicro cautioned that these preliminary financial estimates were unaudited and subject to revision ahead of its quarterly results announcement.
Samsung forecast consolidated sales of approximately 195 trillion won in its guidance for the third quarter of 2026, according to a statement published by its official newsroom. That compares with quarterly revenue of 171.5 trillion won in the second quarter of the same year, according to the company's results for that period. On earnings, its third-quarter guidance included consolidated operating profit of approximately 107.40 trillion won, with the figure remaining an estimate within the company's quarterly guidance. Samsung reported operating profit of 89.5 trillion won in its second-quarter results, alongside earnings it described as record-breaking. The comparison puts third-quarter sales and operating profit estimates above the levels Samsung reported for the previous quarter.
Samsung had linked its record second-quarter performance to continued industry-wide increases in memory prices, according to its earnings statement for that period. The company said "the continued industry-wide upward trend in prices also contributed to record earnings," placing prices among the factors supporting its results. In its memory business, it said it focused primarily on server products despite limited production capacity, making the business central to its product mix. Samsung also forecast accelerating growth in demand for dynamic random-access memory used in servers, according to the same earnings statement. Its forecasts included accelerating demand for enterprise solid-state drives and high-bandwidth memory, alongside server memory.
Wednesday's rebound followed a decline of more than 17% in Samsung shares over the previous month, amid concerns about slowing returns on AI investment, according to Investing.com. The selloff hit Korean memory companies during the October 13, 2026 session, according to Reuters coverage carried by the website. Samsung shares fell more than 7% in that session, in a decline linked to concerns about Chinese competition and the sustainability of AI spending. In the same session, SK Hynix shares fell more than 10%, exceeding Samsung's decline in the selloff covered by the news agency. The latest recovery was thus preceded by a monthly decline for Samsung and a sharp selling session that also hit its Korean memory industry rival.
Attention now turns to Samsung's third-quarter earnings conference call, which the company scheduled for October 29, 2026, according to its investor relations events calendar. The call begins at 10:00 a.m. Korea time, at the scheduled time for presenting results for the period covered by the company's sales and earnings guidance. Samsung's call comes before Supermicro's earnings conference call, which the U.S. company scheduled for November 3, 2026, according to its preliminary business update. Supermicro's results will follow its update raising revenue and profitability estimates on the back of demand and its customer and product mix. The companies' schedules thus place Samsung's third-quarter results announcement before Supermicro's announcement for the first quarter of fiscal 2027.