Samsung Electronics' semiconductor business reports record annual loss
The Biden administration plans to announce it is awarding more than $6 billion to South Korea's Samsung next week to expand its chip output in Taylor, Texas, as it seeks to ramp up chipmaking in the U.S., two people familiar with the matter said.

Samsung Electronics on Wednesday posted a 34.57% drop in operating profit in the fourth quarter from a year ago, in line with its guidance issued earlier this month.

Here are Samsung's fourth-quarter results versus estimates:

Revenue: 67.78 trillion Korean won (about $51 billion), vs. 69.27 trillion Korean won expected by LSEG analysts

67.78 trillion Korean won (about $51 billion), vs. 69.27 trillion Korean won expected by LSEG analysts Operating profit: 2.82 trillion Korean won, vs. 3.43 trillion Korean won expected by LSEG analysts

Samsung's revenue for the quarter ending December fell 3.8% from a year ago, while operating profit dropped 34.57% in the same period.

For the full year of 2023, its semiconductor business fell into a record loss of 14.88 trillion Korean won, from a 23.82 trillion Korean won profit a year earlier on the back of weak global demand, according to LSEG data.

Samsung is the world's largest maker for dynamic random-access memory chips which are found in consumer devices such as smartphones and computers.

In its earnings guidance earlier this month, Samsung said it expected operating profit for the October-December quarter to be 2.8 trillion South Korean won ($2.13 billion), down 35% from the same period a year ago when the firm reported an operating profit of 4.31 trillion won.

Samsung said its fourth-quarter revenue and operating profit improved from the third quarter due to a recovery in memory chip prices and "continued strength" in sales of premium display products.

"We will focus on increasing sales of high value-added products to improve profitability," said Samsung in its earnings call on Wednesday. It said it would capture the rising demand for advanced products and those aimed at generative AI, as well as strengthening AI functionalities in smartphones and other products.