DRAM Spot Holds at $46.32 as Samsung Eyes Record Profit and Memory Margin Above 80%

TrendForce's latest memory spot price report shows DRAM spot trading sluggish and chip prices moving largely sideways, with regional holidays and end-of-month effects suppressing inquiries and quotations. The average spot price of mainstream DDR4 1Gx8 3200MT/s was unchanged from the prior week at $46.32 as of October 6.

NAND flash was weaker. Spot prices of 512Gb TLC wafers fell 2.90% in the week to October 5 to $18.833, as module houses - the largest buyers in the spot market - continued to work through elevated inventories and weak end demand. TrendForce noted sellers have concluded that even price concessions are unlikely to generate additional volume, leaving wafer prices in a consolidation phase with limited movement.

The contract market is pointing the other way. TrendForce expects conventional DRAM contract prices to rise 10% to 15% quarter on quarter in 4Q26, with NAND flash up an even steeper 15% to 20%, as suppliers prioritise advanced-node capacity for high-performance server products and HBM. That divergence leaves the spot market flat while contracted buyers face another leg of increases into the end of the year.

Samsung Electronics reports preliminary third-quarter results on October 8, with South Korean brokerage estimates clustered around KRW 106 trillion of operating profit - a level that would make it the first Korean company to clear KRW 100 trillion in a quarter. Yonhap News puts consensus at KRW 105.41 trillion on revenue of KRW 200.26 trillion, with the semiconductor DS division seen delivering an operating margin of around 75% and the memory business alone possibly above 80%. Estimates have been trimmed from more than KRW 113 trillion in August as a stronger won added cost pressure to Samsung's device businesses.