Samsung Memory Shipments Grow About 50% Quarter-on-Quarter as Competition With SK Hynix Looms
Key Facts
Samsung's high-bandwidth memory shipments, measured in bits, grew about 50% quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter of 2026, according to an estimate by Douglas Kim of Douglas Research and Advisory cited by Reuters on October 8. The expansion comes as Bernstein expects the company's revenue from the memory to grow faster than rival SK Hynix's over the same period. Bernstein said August data suggested Samsung could take the market-share lead, according to Investing. The firm framed its assessment as a possibility, saying Samsung's revenue "could grow faster than SK Hynix's in the third quarter of 2026, and it could take the market-share lead." The estimate puts Samsung's expanding memory business at the centre of competition with its Korean rival, which began commercial volume shipments of the fourth generation during the previous quarter.
Bernstein analyst Mark Li had expressed a preference for Samsung among incumbent memory suppliers in a report published by Investing on September 29. Li said in that report: "We continue to prefer Samsung among incumbent suppliers." His analysis drew on Korean memory export data for July and August, which he described as showing strong signals for Samsung. Meanwhile, the analyst cut his price target for SK Hynix shares to 2.7 million won from 3.3 million won. He attributed the revision to more conservative assumptions about the progress of its high-bandwidth memory business and pricing, linking his valuation of the company to the trajectory of that business and his pricing assumptions.
On products, Samsung said in its second-quarter earnings statement that it had expanded sales of fourth-generation high-bandwidth memory. It described the generation's performance as "industry-leading" as part of its announcement of increased sales. It also announced shipments of "HBM4E" samples to key customers, describing the samples as the industry's first. SK Hynix, meanwhile, said in its earnings statement for the same period that it had begun commercial volume shipments of the fourth generation and planned to increase production in the second half of the year. Alongside its production plans, the company announced long-term supply agreements with about 10 customers when presenting its second-quarter results.
In its financial guidance for the third quarter of 2026, Samsung estimated consolidated sales of about 195 trillion Korean won. That compares with consolidated revenue of 171.5 trillion won in the second quarter, according to the company's earnings statement for that period. Samsung also estimated consolidated operating profit for the third quarter at about 107.40 trillion won, compared with operating profit of 89.5 trillion won in the previous quarter. Following the guidance announcement, the company's shares fell 0.2% in early trading on October 8, according to the Reuters report, which described the profit guidance as a record. The share move thus came in the session when the company announced its sales and profit estimates, coinciding with publication of the estimate on the expansion in its high-bandwidth memory shipments.
SK Hynix heads into its next earnings announcement after posting revenue of 79.3187 trillion won in the second quarter of 2026, according to its statement. Operating profit for the same period was 60.5426 trillion won, alongside the start of commercial volume shipments of fourth-generation memory. The company set October 28, 2026, to present its third-quarter results. Samsung follows with its third-quarter earnings conference on October 29, 2026, according to the events schedule published by its investor relations department. Samsung's conference is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. Korean time.