Samsung expects record Q4 operating profit, beating expectations

SEOUL, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics on Thursday projected a 208% ​jump in fourth-quarter operating profit ‌from a year earlier, beating analysts' estimates ‌as tight supply and a surge in artificial intelligence-driven demand pushed up prices for conventional memory chips.

The ⁠world's largest ‌memory chipmaker estimated an operating profit of 20 trillion won ($13.82 ‍billion) for the October-December period, compared with an LSEG SmartEstimate of 18 trillion ​won, a regulatory filing showed.

The ‌operating profit is a new quarterly record. Samsung's previous record quarterly operating profit was 17.6 trillion won in the third quarter of 2018.

Revenue ⁠would likely rise ​23% to 93 trillion ​won from a year earlier.

Samsung is expected to release detailed ‍results, ⁠including a breakdown of earnings for each of its business divisions ⁠later this month.

($1 = 1,446.9800 won)

(Reporting by Heekyong ‌Yang and Joyce Lee; Editing ‌by Sonali Paul)