SEOUL, June 24, 2026, 20:25 (KST)
- Samsung Electronics ended the session up 9.8% after the company said it may buy back shares to fund stock-based pay for employees.
- A proposed 90 trillion won buyback would amount to around 264 million common shares at Wednesday’s close, or about 4.5% of Samsung’s common stock outstanding as of the end of March.
- KOSPI climbed 3.26% to close at 8,471.02, bouncing back after tumbling nearly 10% on Tuesday.
Samsung Electronics shares rallied Wednesday after a proposed buyback linked to staff bonuses spurred new interest in the stock. That follows a steep drop for South Korea’s chip-focused market a day earlier.
Samsung jumped 9.84% to finish at 340,500 won, rising 30,500 won after swinging between 314,000 and 341,000 won in the session. Trading volume reached 53.4 million shares, Twelve Data said.
The company said in a filing it’s weighing a share purchase to support stock-based pay for staff linked to 2026 results, but hasn’t set an amount or schedule. Local press had reported a 90 trillion won buyback.
Investors are watching the reported amount. At Wednesday’s close, 90 trillion won buys roughly 264 million common shares. Samsung had 5.92 billion common shares outstanding at the end of the first quarter, so this plan would be about 4.5% of the total and close to five times Wednesday’s trading volume.
The figure would come to about 9.2 times Samsung’s usual annual dividend of 9.8 trillion won under its 2024-2026 shareholder return plan. Free cash flow refers to cash left after operating costs and investment. Samsung’s policy is to give 50% of free cash flow back to shareholders during that stretch.
This isn’t the same as a buyback where shares get cancelled. These would stay as treasury shares—stock Samsung buys and keeps to pay staff. Employees could sell a third of these shares right away, then a third after one year, then the rest after two years, according to Reuters. If the company shrinks the plan, delays it, or if workers sell early, the support for the stock gets weaker.
KOSPI finished 3.26% higher at 8,471.02, gaining 267.18 points. That came after the index slid 9.99% to 8,203.84 on Tuesday. Samsung and SK Hynix both tumbled over 12% Tuesday, which led the bourse to impose a 20-minute trading halt.
The buyback report shifted the two-day race for Korea’s top market value. SK Hynix jumped ahead of Samsung on Monday, trading at 2,080.4 trillion won in common shares compared to Samsung’s 2,066.7 trillion won. “Customised AI memory fundamentally changed the industry’s economics,” Meritz Securities senior analyst Kim Sunwoo told Reuters. Reuters
Samsung jumped back to the top spot by market value on Wednesday after shares climbed 9.8%. SK Hynix, which has led in high-bandwidth memory and supplies Nvidia and Google, added 1%. Samsung has been trying to catch up in HBM, stacked memory tech that runs with AI chips to move data at high speeds.
SK Hynix turned up the heat on Samsung, saying it will try to raise as much as $29.4 billion through American depositary receipts—U.S. market certificates for foreign shares. “The Nasdaq plan gives SK Hynix an opportunity to be re-rated in the U.S. market,” said Ryu Young-ho, senior analyst at NH Investment & Securities. CLSA’s Sanjeev Rana said he wouldn’t be surprised to see the rally go on. Reuters
South Korea is pushing harder on the chip cycle. Presidential policy adviser Kim Yong-beom said the “exponential and explosive” AI boom could push Samsung and SK Hynix to build new chip plants more than a decade ahead of past plans, with a fresh chip cluster announcement coming soon. Big capital spending like this puts pressure on cash returns, even as markets are favoring buyback promises now. Reuters
The rally remains heavy with exposure to AI. Chris Weston, Pepperstone’s head of research, said some of the recent tech selling came as funds locked in gains from “crowded positioning” in AI infrastructure and memory trades. Michael Wan at MUFG said the next big question is if the cash flows from AI can support all the fresh investment. Business Insider
Micron Technology will release fiscal third-quarter results after the U.S. close on Wednesday. The company, a U.S. memory rival to Samsung, has its earnings call scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Mountain time.
