Samsung Electronics expects a third straight quarter of year-on-year profit growth following a two-year stretch in the doldrums. The company's earnings guidance for the first three months of 2016 estimates an operating profit of about 6.6 trillion won off 49 trillion won in revenue, which would be jumps of around 10 percent and 4 percent, respectively, from a year ago.

These figures still don't match up to how Samsung was performing in and before 2014, but they do suggest that the company is on its way to correcting its slump. Although the new Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge have been extremely well-received among critics, Samsung has warned that it expects slow growth in the smartphone market this year, looking to various components and consumer electronics businesses to shore up profits.