Samsung Electronics posted an operating profit for the first time in five quarters on the back of a sharp rise in memory chip prices. 

The South Korean tech giant said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday that it posted six-point-six trillion won, or around four-point-eight billion in U.S. dollars, in operating profits in the January-March period, up 931-point-87 percent from a year earlier. 

The performance exceeded market expectations, achieving  18 percent more than the estimated operating profits of five-point-59 trillion won. 

Sales marked 71-point-nine trillion won in the period, up 12-point-82 percent from a year earlier. It’s the first time in five quarters the figure has risen above 70 trillion won since the fourth quarter of 2022.

The company posted a net profit of six-point-75 trillion won, up 328 percent from a year earlier.