Samsung Electronics Co.’s first-quarter profit exceeded analysts’ estimates on booming exports of memory chips.

Net income rose to 11.6 trillion won ($10.7 billion) in the three months ended March, the Suwon, South Korea-based company said in a filing Thursday, beating the 10.9 trillion won average of projections compiled by Bloomberg. Sales rose about 20 percent to 60.6 trillion won.

The results ease concerns of slowing demand for chips after a year of record profit that helped Samsung replace Intel Corp. as the king of semiconductors by revenue. Samsung already beat first-quarter estimates for operating profit by more than a trillion won in its preliminary release earlier this month. The South Korean giant is seeking to extend its dominance with more investments even as global trade tensions add to market uncertainties.

“First-quarter earnings again show how powerful Samsung Electronics can be in its ability to generate profit,” Lee Seung-woo, an analyst at Eugene Investment and Securities, wrote in a report before the announcement. “Samsung’s mid- to long-term market influence may grow amid uncertainties that will pose a greater threat to its rivals.”