Samsung Elec Q2 profit likely to drop 39% on weak AI chip sales

SEOUL (Reuters) -Samsung Electronics is expected to forecast a 39% plunge in second-quarter operating profit on Tuesday, weighed down by delays in supplying advanced memory chips to artificial intelligence chip leader Nvidia. The world’s biggest maker of memory chips is projected to report an April-June operating profit of 6.3 trillion won ($4.62 billion), its lowest income in six quarters and fourth consecutive quarterly decline, according to LSEG SmartEStimate. The prolonged weakness in its financial performance has deepened investor concerns over the South Korean tech giant's ability to catch up with smaller rivals in developing high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in artificial intelligence data centres.