diff --git a/esphome/analyze_memory/helpers.py b/esphome/analyze_memory/helpers.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c529aad52a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/esphome/analyze_memory/helpers.py
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+"""Helper functions for memory analysis."""
+
+from .const import SECTION_MAPPING
+
+
+def map_section_name(raw_section: str) -> str | None:
+    """Map raw section name to standard section.
+
+    Args:
+        raw_section: Raw section name from ELF file (e.g., ".iram0.text", ".rodata.str1.1")
+
+    Returns:
+        Standard section name (".text", ".rodata", ".data", ".bss") or None
+    """
+    for standard_section, patterns in SECTION_MAPPING.items():
+        if any(pattern in raw_section for pattern in patterns):
+            return standard_section
+    return None
+
+
+def parse_symbol_line(line: str) -> tuple[str, str, int, str] | None:
+    """Parse a single symbol line from objdump output.
+
+    Args:
+        line: Line from objdump -t output
+
+    Returns:
+        Tuple of (section, name, size, address) or None if not a valid symbol.
+        Format: address l/g w/d F/O section size name
+        Example: 40084870 l     F .iram0.text    00000000 _xt_user_exc
+    """
+    parts = line.split()
+    if len(parts) < 5:
+        return None
+
+    try:
+        # Validate and extract address
+        address = parts[0]
+        int(address, 16)
+    except ValueError:
+        return None
+
+    # Look for F (function) or O (object) flag
+    if "F" not in parts and "O" not in parts:
+        return None
+
+    # Find section, size, and name
+    for i, part in enumerate(parts):
+        if not part.startswith("."):
+            continue
+
+        section = map_section_name(part)
+        if not section:
+            break
+
+        # Need at least size field after section
+        if i + 1 >= len(parts):
+            break
+
+        try:
+            size = int(parts[i + 1], 16)
+        except ValueError:
+            break
+
+        # Need symbol name and non-zero size
+        if i + 2 >= len(parts) or size == 0:
+            break
+
+        name = " ".join(parts[i + 2 :])
+        return (section, name, size, address)
+
+    return None