- Profit highest since 2018 but slightly below estimates
- Marketing costs may have offset foldable sales-analysts
- Falling memory chip prices to weigh on Q4-analysts
SEOUL, Oct 8 (Reuters) – Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) on Friday flagged a 28% jump in its third-quarter operating profit to the highest in three years, driven by rising memory chip prices and display sales for new flagship smartphone launches.
The preliminary result was up 26% from the second quarter, although just below forecasts, while the market reaction was further muted as analysts pencilled in a flat or slightly lower result this quarter on an expected fall in memory chip prices.
The world’s largest memory chip and smartphone maker estimated its July-September profit at 15.8 trillion won ($13.3 billion), below a Refinitiv SmartEstimate of 16.1 trillion won. It is the highest quarterly profit since the third quarter of 2018.
“The mobile business’ operating margin…