Samsung's stock price surpassed a three-year high following positive predictions about AI demand.

• On Friday morning, Samsung shares climbed as much as 2.24%, reaching a high of 86,500 Korean won ($62.73), according to LSEG data. On Thursday, Samsung shares closed at 84,600.
• Samsung anticipates its operating profit for the April to June quarter to be approximately 10.4 trillion won, representing a 1,452.2% increase from 670 billion won in the previous year. This surpasses the LSEG estimate of 8.51 trillion won.
• According to SK Kim of Daiwa Capital Markets, Samsung's earnings surprise is mainly due to the high prices of memory.

Samsung Electronics' shares surged to their highest point since January 2021 after the company announced it anticipates better-than-expected earnings for the second quarter due to the surge in demand for artificial intelligence.

On Friday morning, Samsung shares climbed as much as 2.24%, reaching a high of 86,500 Korean won ($62.73), according to LSEG data. On Thursday, Samsung shares closed at 84,600 won.

On Friday, Samsung announced that it expects its operating profit for the April to June quarter to be approximately 10.4 trillion won ($7.54 billion), which represents a significant increase of about 1,452% compared to the 670 billion won recorded in the previous year. This projection surpasses the LSEG estimate of 8.51 trillion won.

LSEG analysts estimated revenue for the second quarter to be between 73.7 trillion won and 75 trillion won, which is in line with the firm's expectations.

The world's largest memory chip maker experienced a rebound in business last year as memory chip prices recovered on AI optimism, despite record losses in 2023 due to a post-Covid slump in demand for memory chips and electronics.

Consumer devices such as smartphones and computers frequently use memory chips.

In April, Samsung stated that the second quarter's performance would primarily be driven by demand for generative AI, while mobile demand would remain constant.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra smartphone from the South Korean tech giant features AI for editing photos and online item searching.

On Friday, SK Kim, executive director of Daiwa Capital Markets, stated on CNBC's "Street Signs Asia" that Samsung's earnings surprise is mainly due to high memory prices. However, ironically, Samsung is falling behind in HBM (high-bandwidth memory) production, which has caused a delay in supply to Nvidia, the qualification process.

The AI boom has led to a surge in demand for HBM chips, which are essential for AI chipsets. This has greatly benefited companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the top two memory chip manufacturers globally.

In May, Reuters reported that Samsung has not yet been approved to supply HBM chips for Nvidia's AI processors, as Nvidia is reportedly considering Samsung as a potential supplier. However, Samsung denied the report, stating that tests with several partners for HBM supply are currently progressing smoothly.

Despite the delay, the company's earnings surprise is due to the high memory prices, according to Kim.

"Although their HBM product is delayed, they still benefit from their market share and capacity, which allows them to maximize profit with a higher ASP."

Samsung is set to release detailed second-quarter results later this month.

– CNBC's Lim Hui Jie contributed to this report.