Samsung projects profit jump for 2nd quarter

Samsung Electronics Co. said Tuesday its operating profit for the last quarter likely rose 23% from the same period last year.

The growth was apparently driven by increasing demands for memory chips used in personal computers and servers as the COVID-19 pandemic forces more people to work from home.

The South Korean technology giant, which will release more detailed information when it announces its finalized earnings later this month, projected its operating profit during the April-June period to come in at 8.1 trillion won ($6.8 billion). The company’s revenue for the quarter was expected to fall 7% to 52 trillion won ($43.6 billion).

After reporting a 3.4% increase in operating profit for the first three months of the year, Samsung had said in April it expected its second-quarter profit to decline with the pandemic pushing down sales of smartphones, TVs and other products.

Analysts say Samsung, which is the world’s largest provider of semiconductors, is continuing to benefit from robust chip demand generated by PCs and servers. It's likely that the pandemic is also forcing the company to spend less on marketing due to traveling restrictions.