Shares of Samsung Electronics rose as much as 4.8% on Tuesday after the South Korean technology giant forecast record quarterly profit amid strong demand for artificial intelligence chips. Shares later pared gains to trade up 0.52%.

In its preliminary earnings guidance, Samsung projected its operating profit for the January-March quarter to reach 57.2 trillion won ($37.8 billion), up more than eightfold from just 6.69 trillion won a year ago.

That profit, if it comes to fruition, would represent a quarterly record — nearly three times the previous high — and would exceed estimates of 42.3 trillion won from LSEG SmartEstimate, which is weighted toward forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate.

Meanwhile, the company’s estimated consolidated revenue was projected to surge nearly 70% from a year ago to 133 trillion Korean won.

Samsung’s upbeat guidance was likely driven by its memory chip business, particularly demand for high-bandwidth memory chips used in AI computing.

Its Device Solutions division, which includes memory chips, accounted for 39% of Samsung’s revenues and 57% of its operating profits in 2025.

Demand for high-bandwidth memory chips has become so explosive over the past year that it has triggered shortages across the memory market, driving massive price and volume spikes for memory makers like Samsung.

The results also reflect that Samsung has been strengthening its position in high-bandwidth memory chips after giving up an early lead to its South Korean rival SK Hynix.

The company is expected to report full earnings later this month.

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The logo of Japanese entertainment and electronics giant Sony is displayed at the company’s headquarters in Tokyo on May 14, 2025.

Kazuhiro Nogi | Afp | Getty Images

Sony on Thursday reported a rise in operating profit that beat expectations, supported by favorable foreign exchange rates despite surging memory chip costs. 

Here are Sony’s December quarter results compared with LSEG SmartEstimates, which are weighted toward forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate: 

• Revenue: 3.71 trillion Japanese yen ($23.68 billion) vs. 3.69 trillion yen
• Operating profit: 515 billion yen vs. 468.9 billion yen

Operating profit jumped 22% from a year earlier, rebounding from a year-on-year decline in the previous quarter. Revenue was up a modest 1% over the same period.

The Japanese technology and entertainment giant raised its full-year outlook and now expects operating profit of 1.54 trillion yen, an increase of 110 billion yen, or 8% from its previous forecast.

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Sony also raised its annual revenue projection by 300 billion yen to 12.3 trillion yen, or 3%, while keeping its estimated losses from U.S. tariffs at 50 billion yen.

Meanwhile, the board approved increasing the share buyback program to 150 billion yen from 100 billion yen, to run through May 2026.

Sales in the game and network services division, which houses its popular PlayStation home console brand and represents Sony’s top revenue driver, totaled 1.613 trillion yen, down 68.7 billion yen from a year earlier.

While the unit has benefited from a shift to digital game purchases and growth in the PlayStation Plus subscription service in recent quarters, hardware shipment growth has remained more subdued.

Sony’s hardware business is expected to face headwinds this year from rising component costs.

PlayStation consoles rely on a type of dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, chips, which are in short supply as demand from artificial intelligence and data center operators increases.

As a result, contract prices for conventional DRAM chips are projected to rise 90% to 95% in the current quarter from the previous three months, according to a report from market researcher TrendForce on Monday.

In an earnings call on Thursday, a Sony executive said the company aims to blunt the impact of higher memory costs by focusing on monetizing its current install base and further expanding its software and network service revenue.

Offsetting some of the pressure on the gaming business were stronger results from its music and imaging segments.

Revenue in Sony’s music business rose 12.6% from a year earlier in the December quarter, supported by growth in live events, merchandising and streaming services.

Meanwhile, its imaging and sensing solutions business grew by over 20% in revenue. The unit specializes in the development and manufacturing of semiconductor-based imaging and sensing technologies, including components used in smartphones.

Sony said that while the ongoing memory shortage is expected to impact the smartphone industry, its image sensors are primarily for the high-end market, which it expects to be less affected.

Shares of Sony reversed gains after the earnings release and ended the trading day flat on Thursday.

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TSMC offices in San Jose, California, on April 18, 2024.

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Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company on Thursday reported a 35% increase in fourth-quarter profit, beating estimates and hitting a fresh record as demand for artificial intelligence chips remained strong.

Here are the company’s results versus LSEG SmartEstimates, which are weighted toward forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate:

• Revenue: 1.046 trillion new Taiwan dollars ($33.73 billion), vs. NT$1.034 trillion expected
• Net income: NT$505.74 billion, vs. NT$478.37 billion expected

The world’s largest contract chipmaker has now posted year-over-year profit growth for eight consecutive quarters.

Meanwhile, TSMC’s revenue in the December quarter rose by 20.5% from a year ago to surpass NT$1 trillion, also beating forecasts.

TSMC, Asia’s largest technology company by market capitalization, has benefited greatly from the proliferation of artificial intelligence, producing advanced AI processors for clients such as Nvidia and AMD. 

The company’s high-performance computing division, which includes artificial intelligence and 5G applications, made up the majority of sales in the October-December quarter.

TSMC said advanced chips measuring 7-nanometer or smaller made up 77% of total wafer revenue during the quarter. For full-year 2025, those chips made up 74% of revenue, up from 69% in 2024.

In semiconductor technology, smaller nanometer sizes indicate more compact transistor designs, allowing faster processing speeds and greater energy efficiency.

“The demand for AI remains very strong, driving overall chip demand across the entire server industry,” Counterpoint Research senior analyst Jake Lai told CNBC, predicting that 2026 will be another “breakout year” for AI server demand. 

“With TSMC’s ongoing 2nm capacity expansion and new production contributing to revenue, along with continuous expansion of advanced packaging… TSMC is expected to maintain strong performance in 2026,” Lai said. 

However, he added that chip demand tied to consumer electronics such as smartphones and PCs could be affected by the ongoing memory shortage and price hikes.

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A visitor looks at a model of SK hynix’s high-bandwidth memory (HBM) technology during the 2025 World IT Show in Seoul on April 24, 2025.

Jung Yeon-je | Afp | Getty Images

South Korea’s SK Hynix on Wednesday posted record quarterly revenue and profit, boosted by a strong demand for its high bandwidth memory used in generative AI chipsets.

The company is looking to expand production capacity in 2026, with its planned supply of memory products for 2026 already sold out.

Here are SK Hynix’s third-quarter results versus LSEG SmartEstimates, which are weighted toward forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate:

• Revenue: 24.45 trillion won ($17.13 billion) vs. 24.73 trillion won
• Operating profit: 11.38 trillion won vs. 11.39 trillion won

Revenue rose about 39% in the September quarter compared with the same period a year earlier, while operating profit surged 62%, year on year.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, revenue was up 10%, while operating profit grew 24%. In its earnings release, the company noted that the quarterly operating profit had surpassed 10 trillion won for the first time.

Following the report, SK Hynix shares in South Korea popped 3.5%, boosting its stock rally to 210% this year.

SK Hynix makes memory chips that are used to store data and can be found in everything from servers to consumer devices such as smartphones and laptops.

The company has benefited from a boom in artificial intelligence as a key supplier of high-bandwidth memory or HBM chips used to power AI data center servers. 

“As demand across the memory segment has soared due to customers’ expanding investments in AI infrastructure, SK Hynix once again surpassed the record-high performance of the previous quarter due to increased sales of high value-added products,” SK Hynix said in a statement. 

HBM falls into the broader category of dynamic random access memory, or DRAM — a type of semiconductor memory used to store data and program code that can be found in PCs, workstations and servers.

The company said it will begin supplying its next-generation HBM4 chips in the current quarter, following negotiations with unspecified customers. The chips represent the sixth generation of HBM technology.

HBM leader

SK Hynix has set itself apart in the DRAM market by getting an early lead in HBM and establishing itself as the main supplier to the world’s leading AI chip designer, Nvidia. 

However, its main competitors, U.S.-based Micron and South Korean-based tech giant Samsung, have been working to catch up in the space.

Micron has already supplied Nvidia with some of its HBM technology, while Samsung recently passed Nvidia’s qualification tests for an advanced HBM product, according to a local report last month.

“With the innovation of AI technology, the memory market has shifted to a new paradigm and demand has begun to spread to all product areas,” SK Hynix Chief Financial Officer Kim Woohyun said in the earnings release.

“We will continue to strengthen our AI memory leadership by responding to customer demand through market-leading products and differentiated technological capabilities,” he added.

The HBM market is expected to continue to boom over the next few years to around $43 billion by 2027, giving strong earnings leverage to memory manufacturers such as SK Hynix, MS Hwang, research director at Counterpoint Research, told CNBC.

“[F]or SK Hynix to continue generating profits, it’ll be important for the company to maintain and enhance its competitive edge,” he added.

A report from Counterpoint Research earlier this month showed that SK Hynix held a leading 38% share of the DRAM market by revenue in the second quarter of the year, increasing its shares after having overtaken Samsung in the first quarter. 

The report added that the global HBM  market grew 178% year over year in the second quarter, and SK Hynix dominated the space with a 64% share. Samsung will report its earnings on Thursday.

Ray Wang, research director for semiconductors, supply chain and emerging technology at Futurum Group, told CNBC that he expects SK Hynix to maintain its dominant leadership in the HBM market through next year, thanks to its technological edge.

“The company is likely to sustain around 60% global HBM market share, underpinned by its position as the primary supplier to key customers such as Nvidia, Google and other leading customers,” he added.

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A detail shot of the Lombardi Trophy next to Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles helmets prior to a news conference on February 03, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana ahead of the NFL Super Bowl LIX football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs.

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The NFL is cracking down on the resale of Super Bowl tickets by players, coaches and club employees.

The league plans to fine more than 100 players and roughly two dozen club employees who were found to be in violation of the NFL’s Ticket Resale policy in connection with Super Bowl 59 tickets, according to an internal memo from the league’s chief compliance officer, Sabrina Perel, that was viewed by CNBC.

An investigation found that those players and personnel were selling these tickets to resale “bundlers” at a profit, according to the memo.

Players will be fined 1.5-times the face value of the tickets they sold, and employees will be fined twice the face value, according to a person familiar with the matter who declined to be named speaking about nonpublic details.

Non-player personnel found in violation of the policy will also lose the ability to purchase future NFL tickets, according to the memo.

The league prohibits employees and players from selling NFL game tickets acquired from their employer for more than the ticket’s face value or more than the employee originally paid — whichever is less.

The league is also taking steps to enhance compliance training ahead of Super Bowl 60 and said it will increase penalties for future offenses.

“No one should profit personally from their NFL affiliation at the expense of our fans,” Perel wrote in the memo.

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A motorcycle is seen near a building of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which is a Taiwanese multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company, in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on April 16, 2025.

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Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company on Thursday reported a near 61% year-on-year rise in second-quarter profit, beating estimates, as demand for artificial intelligence chips stays strong. 

Here are TSMC’s first-quarter results versus LSEG SmartEstimates:

• Revenue: 933.80 billion new Taiwan dollars ($31.7 billion), vs. NT$931.24 billion expected
• Net income: NT$398.27 billion, vs. NT$377.86 billion 

Second-quarter net profit hit a record high, according to Reuters.

TSMC’s net revenue in the June quarter rose 38.65% from a year ago to NT$933.80 billion, also beating estimates.

The company’s shares were up nearly 6% at 2:25 a.m. ET on trading platform Robinhood.

TSMC, the world’s largest contract chip manufacturer, has benefited from the megatrend towards artificial intelligence as it manufactures advanced AI processors for clients including Nvidia and Apple.

“The primary driver of growth for TSMC has been the robust demand for AI related chips, particularly for the leading edges nodes below 7nm,” said Brady Wang, associate director at Counterpoint Research.

In semiconductor technology, smaller nanometer sizes signify more compact transistor designs, which lead to greater processing power and efficiency. TSMC said advanced chips, with sizes 7-nanometer or smaller, accounted for 74% of TSMC’s total wafer revenue in the quarter. 

“Surging demand from the AI boom is highly sustainable in the near term, with AI still in its very beginning stages and continues to expand across industries,” Wang added.

However, the company faces potential headwinds from the trade policy of the U.S. President Donald Trump, who has threatened steep “reciprocal tariffs” on Taiwan.

Taiwan faces 32% tariffs announced in April and is in the midst of trade talks with the U.S., according to local media reports. Trump earlier this month also warned of potential additional tariffs on semiconductors.

U.S. export controls have also restricted TSMC’s business with China, as well that of its key clients such as Nvidia and AMD. However, amid a thawing of trade relations between Beijing and Washington, Nvidia and AMD said earlier this week that they had received government assurances allowing them to ship products to China. 

Other headwinds facing TSMC in the second half of the year include appreciation of the Taiwan dollar and potential order cuts from smartphone and PC clients due to global macro conditions, said Sravan Kundojjala, an analyst at SemiAnalysis specializing in global foundries.

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