Why Samsung Reports Earnings Twice, and How Other Chipmakers Report

Most large companies report a quarter once. Samsung Electronics reports it twice. About a week after a quarter ends, it publishes a short estimate of two numbers, consolidated sales and operating profit. About three weeks later it publishes full results, with earnings per share, results for each business and a conference call. Its quarterly report to regulators follows within 45 days of the quarter’s end.

For the third quarter of 2026, Samsung’s estimate came out on October 8: sales of about 195 trillion won and operating profit of about 107.4 trillion won. Samsung’s investor relations calendar lists the full results and conference call for October 29.

What is in the early estimate?

Samsung calls it “earnings guidance.” It is filed with the Korea Exchange as a provisional results disclosure, and it contains:

• Consolidated sales and operating profit only. The rows for pre-tax profit and net profit in the filing are left blank, and there is no split by business.
• One figure for each, not a range. Samsung’s release says “Korean disclosure regulations do not allow earnings estimates to be offered as a range,” and that its figures “represent the median of the estimate ranges.” For the third quarter of 2026 the ranges were 194 to 196 trillion won for sales and 107.3 to 107.5 trillion won for operating profit.
• Unaudited numbers. Samsung says the guidance is “provided for the convenience of our investors before the external audit” is completed, and the filing says the company will disclose again when its board approves the quarter’s results.

The Korea Exchange’s fair disclosure rules cover “information regarding provisional business results” and require it to be reported to the exchange before it is given to anyone else. That is why the estimate appears as an exchange filing first.

The practice is not new. The earliest early-month estimate in Samsung’s filings on DART, Korea’s disclosure system, is dated July 6, 2009, for the second quarter of that year, and it gave ranges: sales of 31 to 33 trillion won and operating profit of 2.2 to 2.6 trillion won. Other Korean companies do the same; LG Electronics, for one, released preliminary third-quarter results on October 7, 2026.

What do the full results add?

The second release comes on the day of the conference call. For the second quarter of 2026, Samsung’s July 30 release added:

• earnings per share (10,849 won for that quarter);
• results by division: DS (semiconductors, covering Memory, System LSI and Foundry), SDC (displays), MX and Networks (mobile), VD and DA (TVs and appliances) and Harman;
• an outlook for the coming quarter and a conference call.

On the same day Samsung files the provisional results again with the exchange, now with net profit. The quarterly report, with the full financial statements, must reach regulators within 45 days of the quarter’s end under Article 160 of Korea’s Capital Markets Act; Samsung filed its 2026 half-year report on August 14.

How close has the estimate been?

We compared each early estimate with the figures in Samsung’s quarterly and annual reports for the ten quarters from the first quarter of 2024 to the second quarter of 2026. Figures are consolidated, in trillion won; the fourth quarter is the full year less the first nine months.

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Quarter	Estimate filed	Sales: estimate → reported	Gap	Operating profit: estimate → reported	Gap
Q1 2024	Apr 5, 2024	71.0 → 71.92	+1.29%	6.6 → 6.61	+0.09%
Q2 2024	Jul 5, 2024	74.0 → 74.07	+0.09%	10.4 → 10.44	+0.42%
Q3 2024	Oct 8, 2024	79.0 → 79.10	+0.12%	9.1 → 9.18	+0.92%
Q4 2024	Jan 8, 2025	75.0 → 75.79	+1.05%	6.5 → 6.49	−0.11%
Q1 2025	Apr 8, 2025	79.0 → 79.14	+0.18%	6.6 → 6.69	+1.29%
Q2 2025	Jul 8, 2025	74.0 → 74.57	+0.77%	4.6 → 4.68	+1.65%
Q3 2025	Oct 14, 2025	86.0 → 86.06	+0.07%	12.1 → 12.17	+0.55%
Q4 2025	Jan 8, 2026	93.0 → 93.84	+0.90%	20.0 → 20.07	+0.37%
Q1 2026	Apr 7, 2026	133.0 → 133.87	+0.66%	57.2 → 57.23	+0.06%
Q2 2026	Jul 7, 2026	171.0 → 171.50	+0.29%	89.4 → 89.49	+0.10%

Over these ten quarters, reported sales came in above the estimate every time, by 0.07% to 1.29%; the estimates were stated in whole trillions of won. Reported operating profit was above the estimate nine times and 0.11% below it once, with the widest gap 1.65%. The full results changed the picture less than they filled it in: the estimate gives the size of the quarter, and the full release shows where the profit came from.

The date of the estimate moves a little. Most fell in the first week or so of the month after the quarter; for the third quarter of 2025 it came on October 14.

How do other chipmakers report?

The other large chipmakers in Asia and the US each report on their own pattern:

Company	Early figure	Quarterly results	Outlook
Samsung Electronics	Sales and operating profit about a week after the quarter	About three weeks later, with a call (Oct 29 for Q3 2026)	Description of the coming quarter in the release
SK hynix	None	Once, about four weeks after the quarter (Oct 28 for Q3 2026, before 9:00 a.m. KST, call at 9:00)	—
TSMC	Revenue every month, within the first ten days	Mid-month after the quarter (Oct 15 for Q3 2026)	Ranges for next quarter’s revenue, gross margin and operating margin
Micron	None	Weeks after a fiscal quarter ends (27 days for fiscal 2026); the fiscal year ends on the Thursday closest to August 31	Ranges for next quarter’s revenue, gross margin and earnings per share
Kioxia	None	Quarterly results under Japan’s disclosure rules	A single figure for the next quarter; no full-year plan

A few details from their own filings:

• SK hynix files one provisional results disclosure a quarter, on the day of its call. Since its American depositary shares (SKHY) listed on Nasdaq in July 2026, it also files the same table with the SEC on Form 6-K.
• TSMC’s monthly revenue reports follow Article 36 of Taiwan’s Securities and Exchange Act, which requires the previous month’s operating figures within the first ten days of each month. With its third-quarter 2026 results on October 15, TSMC guided fourth-quarter revenue of US$52.3 billion to US$54.3 billion, a gross margin of 65% to 67% and an operating margin of 56.5% to 58.5%. Our TSMC monthly sales explainer covers those reports.
• Micron’s fiscal 2026 ended September 3, 2026, and it reported 27 days later, on September 30, with fiscal first-quarter 2027 revenue guidance of US$61.5 billion, plus or minus US$1.5 billion. Micron’s fiscal calendar explains why its quarters do not match the calendar.
• Kioxia’s results for the quarter to June 30 said “the Group does not provide plans or progress reports for the full fiscal year,” and gave a single outlook for the next quarter: revenue of 2,390.0 billion yen for the three months to September.

So “Samsung’s earnings” can refer to either of two days, and the first is an estimate of two numbers. For the other chipmakers, one results day carries everything, and the outlook for the next quarter is what each gives in its own form.