BSS/AFP) - Samsung Electronics forecast a 32 percent jump Tuesday in third-quarter operating profit from a year earlier, beating market expectations as solid demand for conventional memory chips offset weaker sales of high-bandwidth memory products.

The South Korean tech giant estimated an operating profit of around 12.1 trillion won (US$8.5 billion) for the July-September period, the largest quarterly earnings since the second quarter of 2022.

The figure was 17.4 percent higher than the average estimate, according to South Korea`s Yonhap news agency, which cited its own financial data firm.

The results highlighted firm demand for server and artificial intelligence chips, which drove higher prices and shipments of conventional NAND and DRAM memory.

The company "has reclaimed the top spot in memory market revenue in the third quarter," Counterpoint`s research director MS Hwang told AFP.

"This was made possible by stronger-than-expected prices and sales volumes of general-purpose DRAM and NAND, driven by AI-related investments centered around servers," he added.

Earlier this month, Samsung said it had signed preliminary deals with OpenAI to provide chips and other equipment for its Stargate project.

In July, Samsung signed a $16.5 billion deal with Tesla under which its new chip plant in Taylor, Texas, will produce Tesla`s next-generation AI6 chip.

Samsung said in its Tuesday regulatory filing that its sales increased 8.7 percent to 86 trillion won. The data for net income was not available.

Samsung is also expected to benefit from stronger mobile earnings, Neil Shah, vice president at Counterpoint, told AFP.

That is likely driven by improved product mix and solid demand for its latest foldables, including the new Galaxy Z Fold7, he added.

Samsung is expected to release its final earnings report at the end of this month.

Its shares were up 2.79 percent in early trading in Seoul.