Q3 2026 Earnings: Samsung, SK hynix, Seagate and WD Cash In on AI
The money is flowing into silicon and spinning disks at a rate that makes traditional refresh cycles look like a hobby.
You've probably spent the last few months staring at lead times for enterprise storage and wondering if the AI hype is actually hitting the physical layer. If you're looking for the answer, the late October earnings reports opened some eyes. The money is flowing into silicon and spinning disks at a rate that makes traditional refresh cycles look like a hobby.
Memory and the HBM Scramble
To put it frankly, Samsung and SK hynix are basically printing money right now. All driven by the desperate need for rapid AI infrastructure buildouts. Samsung reported consolidated revenue of ₩195.3 trillion (about $146 billion) and operating profit of ₩107.4 trillion (about $80 billion) for Q3 2026. Their Memory Business specifically hit record quarterly numbers, helping carry the company, which isn't surprising given they're scaling up all sales of HBM4 and are pushing high-speed server DDR5 production to keep up with demand.
SK hynix had a similar run. According to their official Q3 results, revenue topped ₩100 trillion for the first time in company history, coming in at ₩104.6155 trillion (about $79 billion) with an operating profit of ₩83.3338 trillion (about $63 billion). Most of the growth has been seen in a massive jump of server DDR5 production while also expanding sales of their TLC enterprise SSDs.
There's a catch, Samsung expects AI memory demand to blow past industry supply by a wide margin compared to 2026, and SK hynix also forecasts that this imbalance will last through 2030. This is because expanding production capacity for these high-value parts isn't as simple as flipping a switch and it involves massive lead times and technical hurdles.
The HDD Sector: Pricing and Density
On the mechanical side, things are looking up for those of us who still believe and trust in spinning disks. Seagate and Western Digital both reported strong revenue growth for their fiscal Q1 2027.
Seagate brought in $4.233 billion, a 61% jump over the previous year. They're leaning hard into their HAMR (heat-assisted magnetic recording) roadmap to push density higher. CEO Dave Mosley mentioned "supply discipline" and a value-based pricing strategy, which is corporate speak for ‘not flooding the market’ and ‘keeping prices firm’. Interestingly, Barron's noted that Seagate shares actually fell 5.4% to $631.81 on October 28, likely because investors were expecting an even bigger rally or are spooked by the cyclical nature of HDDs.
Western Digital didn't lag behind either, reporting a revenue of $4.381 billion (up 55% year over year). Their CFO, Kris Sennesael, pointed to exabyte growth and improved pricing as the main drivers. WD is forecasting fiscal Q2 2027 revenue at a midpoint of $5.1 billion, which would be a 66% to 72% increase year over year.
The Hyperscaler Capex Vacuum
If you're wondering why your procurement lead times are frustrating, look at the capex figures for the cloud giants. Meta, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon are spending money on infrastructure at a scale that's hard to wrap your head around and even harder for anyone else in the industry to bid against.
Meta reported $34.91 billion in capex for Q3 2026. Microsoft spent $45.2 billion with CFO Amy Hood saying that some third-party capacity deliveries were delayed. Alphabet spent $51.4 billion in the same period, and Amazon reported quarterly capex of $75.9 billion.
It's a staggering amount of capital. Microsoft expects calendar-year 2026 spending to hit around $170 billion in total, while Amazon is planning over $220 billion for 2026. While these reports don't break out exactly how many drives or servers were purchased, the sheer volume of spending confirms that AI initiatives are cannibalizing a huge portion of the available hardware supply and will continue to do so.
What to Watch Next
The reporting window isn't closed yet. We have several more updates coming in early November that will fill in the gaps with many more earnings reports.
SanDisk already reported fiscal Q1 2027 revenue of $11.03 billion, beating expectations and forecasting a jump to $12.6 billion for next quarter. Kioxia is scheduled for release the day we are posting this, while AMD and Supermicro are set for November 3. Supermicro's preliminary update was particularly aggressive, estimating revenue of $19.5 billion (up from their previous $15.5 billion guidance) due to, you guessed it, AI platform demand.
If you're planning a hardware refresh for next year, don't assume prices will dip. Between the "supply discipline" at Seagate and the insatiable capex of the hyperscalers, the market is tilted heavily in favor of the vendors right now.
Sources
“Alphabet Announces Third Quarter 2026 Results.” Alphabet Investor Relations, 28 Oct. 2026, s206.q4cdn.com/479360582/files/doc_financials/2026/q3/2026q3-alphabet-earnings-release.pdf
Microsoft Corporation. “Microsoft Announces First Quarter Results.” Exhibit 99.1, Form 8-K, EDGAR, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 28 Oct. 2026, www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000789019/000119312526436122/msft-ex99_1.htm.
“Samsung Electronics Announces Third Quarter 2026 Results.” Samsung Newsroom, 29 Oct. 2026, news.samsung.com/global/samsung-electronics-announces-third-quarter-2026-results.
Seagate Technology Holdings. “Seagate Technology Reports Fiscal First Quarter 2027 Financial Results.” Business Wire, 27 Oct. 2026. Finviz, finviz.com/news/409313/seagate-technology-reports-fiscal-first-quarter-2027-financial-results.
“SK hynix Announces 3Q26 Financial Results.” SK hynix Newsroom, 28 Oct. 2026, news.skhynix.com/en/q3-2026-business-results/.
Western Digital Corporation. “WD Reports Fiscal First Quarter 2027 Financial Results.” Exhibit 99.1, Form 8-K, EDGAR, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 22 Oct. 2026, www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000106040/000162828026066882/a4ex991-pressreleaseq127.htm.