Samsung will be posting its first quarterly profit gain in two years, beating expectations of analysts as its chips and displays divisions enjoyed strong sales to offset the still struggling smartphone business.
The estimated operating profit for the July to September quarter is 7.3 trillion won, equivalent to $6.3 billion. This figure represents a 79.8 percent jump in operating profit for the company, which was expected by analysts to post a profit of only 6.7 trillion won or about $5.8 billion.
Analysts attributed most of the quarterly profit gain to the weaker South Korean won, as the currency's depreciation was a boost for Samsung which settles its sales in U.S. dollars. The weaker won allowed Samsung to post an additional operating profit of about 300 billion won or $257.6 million.
The share prices of Samsung, at the time of writing, were also on track for the biggest daily gain in almost 4 years as investors welcomed the end to continuous quarters of declining earnings for the company.
"There were worries that overall earnings will continue falling as mobile profits declined, but now the numbers make the case that Samsung has the capacity to withstand weakness from the mobile business," said Lee Seung-woo, an analyst for IBK Securities.
Cost cutting measures and improvements in the management of smartphone inventory also aided the company, according to Yoo Eui-hyung, an analyst for Dongbu Securities.
Samsung expects to post an increase of about 24 percent in the profit of its mobile division to 2.2 trillion won, or about $1.9 billion, which is the first year-on-year rise in seven quarters. This is despite dropping shipments for the Galaxy S6, as that was offset by the $120 price cut on the device and the launch of lower-end, sub-$200 devices. However, the company is yet to win back market share from rival Apple.
Samsung, however, is seeing the most success in its semiconductor division, as it is a supplier of chips not only for its own devices but for Apple as well. According to Bloomberg, the expected earnings from the business is about 3.5 trillion won or $3.0 billion, which is a 54 percent increase.
The South Korean company will release its full results late this month.
