November 22, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics’ shares have been on the downward path in recent days as its earnings in the second quarter are forecast to be lower than expected due to disappointing smartphone sales.

After reaching a high of 53,000 won (US$48.47) on May 28, the stock slid to a low of 47,650 won on June 15. It closed down by 1.14 percent at 47,650 won.

Koh Dong-jin, the CEO of Samsung Electronics' mobile division

Market analysts said the outlook for the firm to record a negative growth during the April-June period, for the first time in six quarters, is the main reason behind the falling stock price.

“The slowing sale of smartphones has pressured it to cut the retail price of its flagship Galaxy handsets, which may have led to the profit drop of the tech giant,” Han Seung-hoon, an analyst from Deutsche Bank, noted in an investment report.

Around 30 million units of the firm’s latest Galaxy S9 smartphone are anticipated to have been shipped, the lowest since the Galaxy S3 released in 2012.

Many local and foreign investment companies forecast that the company will highly likely miss the previous market consensus of 15.7 trillion won in operating profit.

Deutsche Bank anticipated the Korean tech giant will post an operating profit of 14.9 trillion won in the second quarter, up from 14.07 trillion won in the same quarter last year.

Nomura Securities projected that Samsung may have earned 15.2 trillion won, down from the previous estimate of 16.1 trillion won.

“The mobile division’s operating profit will likely be 450 billion won lower than the previous estimate due to the slowing demand for high-end smartphones,” said Eo Gyu-jin, an analyst from EBEST Investment and Securities, anticipating the company would post an operating profit of 15.1 trillion won.

The handset division is expected to post 2.3 trillion won in operating profit in the cited period.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@hearldcorp.com)