Memory Makers Out-Earned the Big Five Tech Companies Last Quarter

October 31 — According to a Nikkei Asia report early today (31st), the AI investment boom has driven memory chip demand into shortage. As a result, the combined operating and net profit of the five major memory makers — Kioxia, Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron and SanDisk — exceeded that of the big five US tech companies for the first time last quarter.

QUICK FactSet data show that from July to September 2026 (June to August for Micron), the five memory makers’ combined operating profit reached 32 trillion yen (about 1.35 trillion yuan), ten times the same period a year earlier.

Over the same period, the combined operating profit of Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta and Apple was about 25 trillion yen (about 1.06 trillion yuan), up roughly 20% year on year.

Note that Apple has not yet reported, so its figure is a market forecast.

Kioxia’s operating profit for the quarter reached 1.99 trillion yen (about 84.2 billion yuan), 23 times a year earlier; net profit hit 1.36 trillion yen (about 57.5 billion yuan), 33 times, the first time its quarterly net profit passed 1 trillion yen (about 42.3 billion yuan).

Among Japanese firms whose fiscal year ends in March, only a handful — Toyota and SoftBank Group among them — earn at that scale.

Kioxia expects net profit of 1.36 trillion yen this quarter, 15 times a year earlier. Surging data-centre demand for NAND flash for long-term storage is the main driver.

Samsung Electronics’ operating profit last quarter reached about 107 trillion won (about 533.1 billion yuan), nearly nine times a year earlier, making it the first tech company to exceed 100 trillion won (about 498.2 billion yuan) in a single quarter; its high-bandwidth memory output for next year is already sold out.

The memory makers’ profitability shows in operating margins: around 10% in the first half of 2025, now close to 70%.

Apart from Apple, the tech giants are investing heavily in data centres, tightening memory supply further and handing upstream makers rich profits. But as capital spending keeps growing, the market is starting to ask whether the giants can sustain it.

Amazon’s results show its free cash flow gap widening again, and the stock fell sharply in after-hours trading. Alphabet also posted negative free cash flow for another quarter, and its shares dropped on Thursday.