Samsung Electronics expects its profit for the three months to June 2024 to rise 15 times compared to the same period last year.

The artificial intelligence (AI) boom, according to the BBC, has pushed up the prices of advanced chips, raising the company’s second-quarter forecasts.

The South Korean tech giant is the world’s largest manufacturer of memory chips, smartphones and televisions.

The announcement sent Samsung shares up more than 2 percent in early trading in Seoul.

The company also reported a 10-fold jump in profits for the first quarter of this year compared to last year.

In this quarter, it said it expects its profit to rise to 10.4 trillion won (6.9 trillion euros), from 670 billion won (447,396,587 euros) last year.

That beat analysts’ forecasts of 8.8tn won, according to LSEG SmartEstimate.

“Right now we’re seeing demand for AI chips in data centers and smartphones skyrocket,” said Marc Einstein, chief analyst at Tokyo-based research and advisory firm ITR Corporation.

Optimism about artificial intelligence is one reason for the broader market rally of the past year, which pushed the S&P 500 and Nasdaq in the United States to new records on Wednesday.

Chip-making giant Nvidia’s market value topped $3 trillion last month, briefly holding onto the top spot as the world’s most valuable company.
“The AI ​​boom that massively boosted Nvidia is also boosting Samsung’s profits and indeed the entire industry,” Mr. Einstein added.

Samsung Electronics is the flagship of the South Korean Samsung Group.

Next week, the tech company faces a possible three-day strike, which is expected to start on Monday. A workers’ union is calling for a more transparent system for bonuses and leave.