Five major memory chip manufacturers' combined operating profit in Q3 reached approximately 32 trillion yen, surpassing the five largest US tech giants
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According to QUICK FactSet data, in the third quarter of 2026, the five major memory chip manufacturers—Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Micron Technology, Kioxia, and SanDisk—had a combined operating profit of approximately 32 trillion yen, a 10-fold increase compared with the same period last year, surpassing the combined approximately 25 trillion yen of Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Apple. Samsung Electronics' operating profit for the quarter was 107.44 trillion won, up about 783% year on year; SK Hynix's operating profit was 83.33 trillion won, with an operating margin of 80%. The profit growth mainly came from demand for HBM from AI data centers; manufacturers shifting capacity to HBM squeezed the supply of general-purpose DRAM, and Samsung's average DRAM selling price in the third quarter rose about 20% quarter on quarter, while HBM4 sales grew more than threefold quarter on quarter.
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The original article uses FactSet data to compare the quarterly profits of memory manufacturers with those of the US tech giants, and explains the causal link of HBM demand driving up prices.
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11月2日消息，据QUICK FactSet数据，2026年第三季度，全球五大存储芯片厂商（三星电子、SK海力士、美光科技、铠侠及闪迪）合计营业利润约32万亿日元（注：约合人民币1.52万亿元），较去年同期暴增10倍。
同期，美国五大科技巨头（Alphabet、微软、亚马逊、Meta、苹果）合计营业利润约25万亿日元（注：约合人民币1.19万亿元）。这是存储厂商的单季利润首次在总量上全面超越这些长期占据利润榜前列的美国科技巨头。
三星电子的表现尤为突出。其第三季度营业利润达107.44万亿韩元（注：约合人民币5228亿元），同比增长约783%，成为全球首家单季营业利润突破100万亿韩元的科技公司。
SK海力士当季营业利润83.33万亿韩元（注：约合人民币4158亿元），营业利润率高达80%，创下历史新高。
美光调整后营业利润446.4亿美元（注：约合人民币2997亿元），营业利润率同样达到82.3%。
利润暴增的直接推手是AI数据中心对HBM的疯狂需求。存储厂商将产能大规模转向利润更高的HBM，通用DRAM供给被挤压，价格持续攀升。
三星三季度DRAM平均售价环比上涨约20%，HBM4销售额环比增长超过三倍。存储行业的营业利润率从2025年上半年的约10%一路逼近70%，有分析师直言，过去一年半里存储价格已经涨了10倍。
但利润集中度的剧烈反转也引发了市场对周期可持续性的担忧。一旦AI资本支出放缓，PC与手机等消费电子客户可能已因成本高企而缩减了采购，存储厂商届时将面临需求断层的风险。