Samsung Electronics, the leading subsidiary of the South Korean conglomerate Samsung Group, projects a remarkable increase in first-quarter operating profits, exceeding tenfold compared to the previous year, driven by the recovery in chip prices.

In a regulatory filing on Friday, the tech giant revealed its forecast, expecting operating profits for January-March to surge by 931.3 percent to approximately 6.6 trillion won ($4.89 billion). This surge contrasts with around 640 billion won in operating profits during the same period last year.

The projected figures surpassed the average estimate by 20.5 percent, as reported by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, citing data from a financial analytics firm.

Samsung Electronics attributes this optimistic outlook to an expected 11.4 percent increase in sales, reaching 71 trillion won.

The recent boom in profits comes after a challenging period for the semiconductor industry, where global economic slowdowns impacted memory chip sales. However, industry analysts anticipate a recovery in the semiconductor market, with an estimated growth rate of 11.8 percent for this year, according to the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics.

This positive news from Samsung follows a similar announcement from SK Hynix, the world’s second-largest memory chip maker, which reported a return to profitability in January after four consecutive quarters of losses.

Neil Shah, vice president of Counterpoint Research, attributes Samsung’s optimistic outlook to a resurgence in the smartphone market and escalating prices for DRAM (memory chip).

Samsung is scheduled to release its final earnings report at the end of this month, providing further insights into its performance for the first quarter.