profit likely rose in fourth quarter

SINGAPORE — Samsung Electronics on Friday said its operating profit for the quarter that ended in December likely rose 26% from a year ago to 9 trillion Korean won ($8.22 billion).

It was mostly in line with analysts’ estimate of 9.1 trillion won, according to Refinitiv SmartEstimate.

Samsung Electronics shares in South Korea jumped 7.12% on Friday.

The company said its fourth-quarter consolidated sales likely came in at 61 trillion won, up almost 2% from a year earlier. Samsung did not break down how each business unit performed including its main profit-making semiconductor business.

Full results for the December quarter are due later this month.

“One, strong Korean won against (a) couple of major currencies like U.S. dollar and euro,” he said Friday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.” The other reason is the “disappointing” smartphone sales, which had been quite erratic over past quarters, Kim said.

But the analyst is bullish on the stock. He pointed out that memory chip prices are set to turn around this quarter, with average selling prices expected to climb — that would benefit the semiconductor business.

“The duration of the memory upturn is likely to be much longer than many people think. So that’s why I am very comfortable with my outperform rating on the stock,” Kim said, adding that Samsung remains “one of the cheapest semiconductor stock globally.”

Both operating profit and consolidated sales fell quarter-on-quarter, based on Friday’s guidance.