Purchases on St in the wake of Samsung's accounts, demand for AI chips grows

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Snap Stmicroelectronics in the Italian Stock Exchange, on the back ofSamsung Electronics preliminary accounts - which showed growing demand for AI chips - and the strong performance of Micron Technology on Wall Street. In order, the Jean-Marc Chery-led company benefited from the South Korean giant's numbers, which reported apreliminary operating profit of 57.2 trillion won (US$37.9 billion) in the quarter ended March, compared to analysts' average estimates of 39.3 trillion won. Revenues rose to 133 trillion won, against an average estimate of 116.8 trillion won. The company will publish full financial statements, including net profit and divisional details, on 30 April.

The group showed strong demand for memory chips for artificial intelligence, despite markets disrupted by the conflict in the Middle East. Indeed, customers, led by cloud service providers, are increasing orders for high-bandwidth memory and other chips used in data centres to support artificial intelligence services, boosting both volumes and margins for Samsung. The company notes, however, that the prolonged conflict in the Middle East could slow the price growth of memory chips in the second quarter, while a quicker resolution could encourage further increases.

Also contributing to St. Louis' strong performance was Micron, which closed 3.15 per cent higher on Wall Street on Monday. Last month, the US memory chip maker expected third-quarter revenues to beat Wall Street expectations, after posting record second-quarter earnings thanks to booming demand for artificial intelligence and limited supply. Although coming off some more complicated sessions, Micron's stock remains up about 20 per cent since the start of the year.