Samsung Electronics May Unveil About $71.9 Billion Shareholder Return Plan; Shares Surge Over 10%

TradingKey - During the Asian trading session on August 20, market sources reported that Samsung Electronics plans to finalize and announce a shareholder return plan exceeding 100 trillion won (approximately $71.9 billion) following its board meeting this month.

Boosted by the news, Samsung Electronics' stock price surged over 10% intraday. As of press time, Samsung shares were up 8.89% at 269,500 won, leading gains on South Korea's KOSPI Index.

[Source: TradingView]

According to media reports, the company plans to allocate half of its free cash flow to shareholder returns. Specific measures are expected to focus primarily on cash dividends, with additional return measures to be further evaluated based on future cash flow and profitability.

Just yesterday, SK Hynix announced the approval of a 40 trillion won stock buyback plan. Samsung's shareholder return scale is 2.5 times that of SK Hynix, which is also viewed by the market as a positive signal of returning massive AI-era profits to shareholders.

Previously, KB Securities projected that the annual scale of Samsung Electronics' new shareholder return policy would expand more than tenfold from the current 9.8 trillion won, with total shareholder returns over the next three years reaching at least 600 trillion to 700 trillion won.

Market analysis suggests that the successive rollout of massive shareholder return plans by the two memory giants is expected to inject confidence into South Korea's pressured semiconductor sector, though the specific return methods and implementation timeline still await final board resolutions.