Samsung shares slide as record $80 bln shareholder return plan underwhelms

Samsung Electronics shares dropped on Monday, affected by a mix of profit-taking and investors' disappointment with the company's substantial $80 billion shareholder return plan. The Samsung slide was the most significant drag on the KOSPI index, which fell over 1%. Rival SK Hynix Inc managed to rise slightly.

In Friday's announcement, Samsung revealed a return range of 90 trillion won to 110 trillion won to its shareholders this year, comprising of 30 trillion won in cash dividends this quarter. However, the disclosed amount was not significantly different from the estimates circulating prior to the announcement. The 30 trillion won in immediate buybacks also paled in comparison to the 40 trillion won buyback announced by SK Hynix earlier in August.

SK Hynix also disclosed a plan to allocate more than 50% of its free cash flow generated between 2025 and 2027, whereas Samsung reiterated its commitment to return 50% of its cash. Moreover, Samsung did not disclose specifics on how the remaining shareholder returns, beyond the 30 trillion won buyback, would be managed. This lack of clarity, coupled with Samsung's comparatively smaller buyback, led investors to feel somewhat let down.

Shares of Samsung were initially buoyant after climbing sharply over the previous two trading sessions, leading up to Friday's announcement.

Nevertheless, Samsung's shares still rose by 100% so far in 2026. With much of market attention currently focused on the company's plans to return cash to shareholders following a massive AI-driven windfall over the past year, Samsung, alongside SK Hynix, has been among the biggest beneficiaries of the AI trade, driven by the intense memory needs of AI infrastructure.