Samsung, in a regulatory filing, estimated its third-quarter profit at 7.3 trillion won ($6.29 billion), its first quarterly profit gain in two years and its biggest since the first quarter of 2014. This compared with a 6.7 trillion won profit tipped by a Thomson Reuters SmartEstimate poll of 30 analysts.
Samsung's shares opened 4.1 percent higher after the guidance release.
Smartphone earnings likely improved from a year earlier, analysts said, partly due to the launch of new lower-end models and the August launch of the Galaxy Note 5.
Semiconductor sales were also expected to be strong, driven by the launch of new smartphones including the Galaxy Note 5 and Apple Inc's iPhone 6S models. The weaker South Korean won likely also boosted profits, analysts said.
Samsung expects third-quarter revenue to rise by 7.5 percent from a year earlier to 51 trillion won.
Investors remain cautious about Samsung's earnings outlook, however, as mobile division margins likely remained under pressure.
Samsung will not disclose its full results until late October, but HMC Investment estimated in a report last month that the firm's mobile division operating margin fell to 7.7 percent in the third quarter from 10.6 percent in April-June.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
