Samsung Electronics, 20 trillion operating profit in Q4..elevated expectations easily met

Samsung Electronics announced on the 8th that its operating profit for the last quarter was provisionally estimated at 20 trillion won.

Sales amounted to 93 trillion won. Operating profit increased by 208.17% compared to the same period last year, while sales rose by 22.71%.

It achieved results that exceeded market consensus.

The consensus was for sales of 91 trillion 470 billion won and operating profit of 18 trillion 510 billion won.

In particular, analysts generally estimated an operating profit of around 20 trillion won this week. The results met the elevated expectations.

Last year's total sales were 332 trillion 770 billion won, an increase of 10.6% from the previous year. Operating profit expanded to 43 trillion 530 billion won, a 33% increase.

SK Hynix is estimated to have achieved sales of 30 trillion won and an operating profit of 15 trillion 670 billion won in the last quarter. For the year, the consensus is for sales of 94 trillion 350 billion won and operating profit of 43 trillion 720 billion won.

If SK Hynix exceeds the estimated results for the fourth quarter, it will surpass Samsung Electronics in annual operating profit.

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics resolved to buy back its own shares worth 2 trillion 500 billion won the previous day. It will acquire 18 million shares, which is 0.3% of the total issued shares. The buyback will take place over three months from the 8th until April 7th.

The acquired shares are not subject to cancellation. Samsung Electronics explained that it is acquiring its own shares for the purpose of stock-based compensation, such as performance-linked stock compensation (PSU, Performance Stock Unit) and performance incentives (OPI, LTI), which were introduced last October to motivate employees to achieve results.