Samsung Electronics unveiled a sweeping shareholder return package on Friday, capping a blockbuster week for capital returns among South Korea’s semiconductor heavyweights. The company said it expects to return between 90 trillion won and 110 trillion won ($65.1 billion to $79.52 billion) to shareholders in 2026, a figure it called “the largest ever by a Korean company.”
The announcement comes just days after domestic rival SK Hynix disclosed a 40 trillion won share buyback, underscoring a new era of investor-friendly policies in the chip sector.
Samsung’s stock has rallied roughly 135% year-to-date, as the company works to close the gap with SK Hynix in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in artificial intelligence systems. The plan appears designed to reward investors as Samsung benefits from the AI-driven semiconductor boom.
Payout details and timeline
Samsung said it will pay around 30 trillion won in cash dividends during the third quarter, including its regular quarterly dividend. The exact amount and structure of that payout will be finalized at a board meeting in late October, according to the company.
The remaining shareholder returns — a mix of cash dividends, share buybacks, and share cancellations — will be determined at a board meeting in late January 2027. Samsung said it will decide the size and details of those distributions at that time, taking into account a combination of strategies.
The plan builds on Samsung’s earlier 2024-2026 shareholder return program, under which the company committed to returning 50% of free cash flow generated between 2024 and 2026, while maintaining annual regular dividends of 9.8 trillion won.
In a corporate value enhancement plan released in March, Samsung reported that it had paid 20.9 trillion won in cash dividends in 2024 and 2025, and spent 8.4 trillion won on share repurchases for cancellation.
The latest announcement signals Samsung’s determination to boost shareholder value as competition in the AI memory chip market intensifies. With SK Hynix having already moved to reduce its share count, Samsung’s plan is set to be closely watched by investors for its size and execution.
Source: www.cnbc.com — https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/21/samsung-shareholder-return-package-sk-hynix-buyback-ai-chip-boom.html
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