Samsung Electronics Co. is expected to rack up a market forecast-beating operating income for the first quarter of 2017 helped by its robust performance in the chip business, a local security firm said Tuesday.

NH Investment & Securities Inc. said Samsung is forecast to post an operating income of 9.6 trillion won ($8.59 billion) for the January-March period, hovering far above the market estimate of 8.9 trillion won.

By sector, Samsung's chip business will rake in 6.1 trillion won in operating income, with the mobile, display and consumer electronics divisions logging 2.1 trillion won, 980 billion won and 380 billion won, respectively, it said.

The brokerage house said Samsung enjoyed improved sales of DRAM and 3-D NAND products, which will recoup losses from a seasonal decline in demand for display and mobile products.

NH Investment said Samsung's mobile business will get back on track after the release of the presumed Galaxy S8, which will be showcased this month.

The tech giant has been struggling to overcome the damage to its reputation incurred by the Galaxy Note 7 phablet. The Note 7 line was discontinued last year due to battery problems that caused some of the devices to catch fire. (Yonhap)