Samsung Electronics is likely to post its strongest performance in two years owing to pent-up demand for smartphones and as its chip business benefited from U.S. sanctions on Chinese tech firm Huawei Technologies. 
 
Samsung said in its earnings guidance on Thursday that its operating profit for the July to September period likely reached 12-point-three trillion won. The market consensus was ten-point-five trillion. 

If the estimate is confirmed later this month, it would be the first time the operating profit surpassed ten trillion won since the fourth quarter of 2018, when it marked ten-point-eight trillion won.

It would also be the best performance in two years since the third quarter of 2018, when it posted 17-point-57 trillion won.  

Samsung estimated its sales at 66 trillion won for the third quarter, surpassing 65-point-98 trillion won, its quarterly record set in 2017.