samsung

Analyst Jukan from Citrini stated on social media that Samsung's current stock performance is lagging behind SK Hynix, seemingly because Samsung's shareholder return plan is either not as generous as initially expected or still carries uncertainty. Against this backdrop, there is a saying circulating in South Korea that Samsung's management is deliberately avoiding bullish statements, involving tax considerations for the company's controlling family member, Chairman Lee Jae-Yong.More specifically, Lee Jae-Yong's mother, Hong Ra-hee, gifted Samsung shares to her son. It has been reported that the gift tax he needs to pay is calculated based on the average closing price during the four-month period around the gift date of November 12, specifically from September 12, 2026, to January 12, 2027. Therefore, the Samsung controlling family has no motivation to drive up the stock price before January of next year.

According to market data from RootData, the South Korean KOSPI index fell sharply by 3.00% during the day, currently reported at 5831.67 points. Samsung Electronics dropped nearly 6%, and SK Hynix fell by 0.4%.

Samsung Electronics stated that the investment plan for the chip division will be used to build new fabs and other infrastructure to meet strong demand for AI and HPC, while ensuring readiness in the medium to long term.

Samsung Electronics announced its official financial report for the third quarter of 2026. The company's revenue for the quarter reached 195.3 trillion Korean won, slightly higher than the previously announced preliminary data, with an operating profit of 107.4 trillion Korean won for the third quarter. The net profit for the quarter was 75.2 trillion Korean won, falling short of market expectations of 83.6 trillion Korean won. Following the release of the financial report, Samsung Electronics' stock price briefly fell, then slightly rebounded, currently up 0.2%.The semiconductor business remains the main source of performance. The operating profit of the chip division for the third quarter was 106.5 trillion Korean won, with significant growth in the foundry business revenue. The company expects double-digit growth in this business's revenue in the fourth quarter. The display business recorded an operating profit of 1.1 trillion Korean won, while the mobile division reported an operating loss of 600 billion Korean won in the third quarter.Samsung Electronics announced that it will distribute a dividend of 4,601 Korean won per share for the third quarter, with a total dividend payout of 30 trillion Korean won. Management expects demand for memory chips to continue to expand in the fourth quarter and stated that the chip supply shortage situation will further worsen next year.

According to Tencent news, on October 27, Tencent's cross-border payment platform TenPay Global reached a cooperation with South Korea's Samsung Wallet and Woori Bank to jointly promote the interconnectivity of cross-border QR code payments.After South Korean users come to China, they can use the Samsung Wallet Money e-wallet within Samsung Wallet to scan the WeChat Pay collection code or show the payment code to merchants, allowing them to spend at tens of millions of WeChat Pay merchants within China.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix plan to start mass production and delivery of 8-layer HBM4 in the second quarter of next year, supplying it to NVIDIA.According to informed sources, NVIDIA will equip the 8-layer HBM4 based on the scale of the Rubin Ultra NVL rack, and it is expected that the proportion of 8-layer HBM4 will significantly increase starting from the middle of next year.

According to a report by the Korea Economic Daily, KB Securities expects that the combined operating profit of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix will reach 157.1 trillion won from 2026 to 2027, which is 2.1 times the cumulative operating profit of 74.8 trillion won for both companies from 2000 to 2025. It is estimated that in 2027, the operating profits of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix will be 55.5 trillion won and 38.9 trillion won, respectively, representing year-on-year growth of 51% and 50%.KB Securities stated that the demand for AI chips is driving a tightening of memory supply, and about 70% to 80% of the memory that both companies plan to produce in 2027 has been secured through long-term supply agreements signed with major global technology companies for five years. The price-to-earnings ratios of both companies have fallen to about 3 times, and the proportion of foreign ownership has dropped to its lowest level since the global financial crisis in 2008. KB Securities believes that the market may be underestimating the long-term profit growth potential.

According to the "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily," South Korean memory chip companies SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics will announce their performance for the third quarter of 2026 this week, with SK Hynix set to release on Wednesday and Samsung Electronics on Thursday. The report states that with the rising demand for AI chips and increasing prices for memory chips, both companies are expected to deliver strong results, with a combined operating profit for the third quarter projected to reach 184.4 trillion won, approximately 139.1 billion dollars.Samsung Electronics' preliminary results released on October 8 show that third-quarter revenue increased by 127% year-on-year, reaching 195 trillion won; operating profit was 107.4 trillion won, approximately 80.17 billion dollars, compared to 12.17 trillion won in the same period last year, an increase of nearly 8 times. Analysts surveyed by FnGuide expect SK Hynix's third-quarter revenue to be 98.2 trillion won, with operating profit at 77 trillion won. In 2025, Samsung and SK Hynix's operating profits are projected to be 43.6 trillion won and 47.2 trillion won, respectively, totaling 90.8 trillion won. If these predictions come true, Samsung will become the first South Korean company to exceed 100 trillion won in quarterly operating profit.As of the market close on October 23, the stock prices of Samsung and SK Hynix have fallen by 36% and 52%, respectively, since the end of June. The report indicates that investors view the impressive financial reports as expected, with focus areas including HBM4 supply, long-term agreements, and shareholder returns. TrendForce predicts that the average selling price of HBM will increase by 121% next year compared to this year, and the production capacity of Samsung and SK Hynix for next year is already sold out. In the second-quarter financial report, Samsung disclosed long-term agreements with five data center customers, while SK Hynix finalized multi-year contracts with over ten customers. Samsung announced a shareholder return plan of 90 trillion to 110 trillion won this year and will determine a cash dividend of about 30 trillion won for the third quarter by the end of this month. SK Hynix announced a 40 trillion won buyback plan in August and halted the evaluation for Solidigm's IPO. Kim Dong-won, head of KB Securities, stated that despite the significant stock price correction, the profit expectations for both companies have been raised, and the key catalyst for stock revaluation is expected to be the sustainability of profit growth and whether shareholder returns can be further increased.

South Korean chip companies Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix will release their third-quarter financial reports next week, with strong demand for artificial intelligence storage chips expected to drive substantial profits for both companies.SK Hynix is scheduled to announce its financial report on Wednesday, while Samsung Electronics will follow closely on Thursday.

According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), a patent from Samsung Electronics titled "Electronic Devices and Their Operating Methods Providing Blockchain Service" was officially granted on October 20.This technology allows electronic devices to identify nearby devices that support blockchain services through wireless signals, establish peer-to-peer connections, and select the device with the most recent data to complete blockchain synchronization by comparing the latest block heights stored on each device. This patent can reduce network traffic and energy consumption when devices synchronize block data.

According to the Korea Daily Economic News, Tesla and Nvidia will invest $2.8 billion in Samsung Electronics' factory.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics announced that it will supply ABF substrates to NVIDIA starting in 2026.

According to data from Korea's Meritz Securities cited by Wall Street Journal, the delivery time for low-capacity, high-capacity, and automotive MLCCs from Samsung Electro-Mechanics has been extended from over 30 weeks in September to 52 weeks in October, with some customers needing to wait about a year after placing orders. The delivery time for major MLCC products from Taiwanese manufacturer Yageo remains at 30 to 52 weeks, and the extension of delivery times has spread from high-capacity, high-performance products to low-capacity and automotive products.The delivery cycles for NIC Components, Viking, and Sanhe Capacitors have also been extended to varying degrees, with many companies continuing to maintain a trend of price increases. AI servers are one of the important drivers of demand growth, with their MLCC loading capacity exceeding that of ordinary servers by more than 10 times. The capacity utilization rate of Samsung Electro-Mechanics' components division reached 91% in the first half of this year, and the expansion project in the Philippines is expected to achieve mass production only after 2027, making it difficult to significantly alleviate short-term supply pressure.

According to a report by North Korea Biz on October 20, Samsung Electronics' foundry division has seen its 4-nanometer process capacity nearing full load due to an increase in customer orders, while the company is also expanding efforts to attract new customers for its 5-nanometer process. The report states that contracts for the most advanced 2-nanometer process with major global tech companies are still delayed, prompting Samsung to increase the utilization rates of its relatively stable 4-nanometer and 5-nanometer processes to improve profitability.The 4-nanometer process is used for smartphone application processors, artificial intelligence semiconductors, and high-performance computing chips. The report indicates that not all chips in the expanding artificial intelligence semiconductor market require the most advanced processes; the manufacturing costs of 4-nanometer and 5-nanometer processes are relatively low while still achieving high performance, making them suitable for certain artificial intelligence inference chips and application-specific integrated circuits.Regarding the 2-nanometer process, Samsung is in discussions with major global tech companies about production contracts, but some negotiations are taking longer than originally expected. In addition to yield rates, the most advanced processes also require comprehensive verification of energy efficiency, design assets, and stable mass production capabilities, which means a longer time frame from contract signing to mass production. Samsung views the 2-nanometer process as the core growth driver for its next-generation foundry business and plans to continue using the fully surrounded gate transistor structure first introduced in the 3-nanometer process to improve energy efficiency and performance.

According to Gate market data, the South Korean KOSPI index closed down 214.93 points on October 20 (Tuesday), a decrease of 3.73%, reporting at 5553.08 points. Samsung Electronics fell by 2.98%, and SK Hynix fell by 4.22%.

According to a report by THE ELEC, Samsung Electro-Mechanics announced on October 19 that it has signed a supply contract for packaging substrates for memory semiconductors with a large global company, amounting to 360.5 billion Korean won. The contract period is from January 1, 2027, to December 31, which is equivalent to 3.2% of the company's consolidated revenue last year.This is the first time Samsung Electro-Mechanics has disclosed a long-term supply contract for packaging substrates. With this addition, the number of long-term supply contracts disclosed by the company this year has increased to seven, with a total amount of approximately 4.3 trillion Korean won. Previous contracts were mainly focused on components such as silicon capacitors, multilayer ceramic capacitors, and inductors, and this expansion includes the packaging solutions business, which produces products such as FC-BGA substrates and BGA substrates.Last month, Samsung Electro-Mechanics announced plans to invest 42.7 trillion Korean won in the Sejong FC-BGA production facility and 25.1 trillion Korean won in the Vietnam packaging substrate production equipment. The company also stated that as part of a large government project, it plans to invest 80 trillion Korean won in the Sejong business site and 150 trillion Korean won in the Busan business site by 2040, and will produce FC-BGA in Busan, Sejong, and Vietnam. A related person from Samsung Electro-Mechanics stated that the growth of the AI and high-performance computing market makes high-performance packaging substrates more important, and the company will strengthen customer supply cooperation and establish a stable supply system.

According to data recently released by financial data provider FnGuide, as of October 15, the total estimated value of shares held by the National Pension Service (NPS) in 287 listed companies with a holding ratio of 5% or more has shrunk from 515.93 trillion Korean won at the end of June to 333.53 trillion Korean won, a decrease of approximately 182 trillion Korean won, equivalent to about 13.7 billion USD.The shrinkage is mainly related to the fund's heavy holdings in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. The market value of SK Hynix held by NPS has evaporated by approximately 74.2 trillion Korean won, while the market value of Samsung Electronics has decreased by 56.9 trillion Korean won, with these two stocks accounting for about 72% of the total decline in market value.NPS is the largest pension fund in South Korea, managing assets worth 1866 trillion Korean won, approximately 1.35 trillion USD, as of the end of June. The investment return rate in the first half of this year reached 27.2%, the best level for the same period since 2022, but the market reversed in just a few months, marking the first quarterly decline in market value for its core heavy holdings since the fourth quarter of 2024.NPS has long listed Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix as its top two domestic stock holdings, maintaining a holding ratio of over 7%. In May of this year, the fund's operating committee also raised the year-end target allocation for Korean stocks. After reaching a peak in June, stock prices quickly corrected, and by mid-October, SK Hynix had fallen more than 50% from its peak, while Samsung Electronics had retreated about 40%.The concentrated sell-off by foreign investors has been the direct driver of the decline, with the two companies accounting for nearly 80% of the total net selling by foreign investors. Market discrepancies regarding AI storage prosperity, advancements in Chinese storage technology, and the high volatility of individual stock leveraged ETFs have also amplified the declines. The KOSPI index in South Korea reached a historical closing high of 9114.55 points on June 22, but had fallen by about 39% as of October 15. During this period, NPS's holding ratio of SK Hynix shares decreased from 7.5% to 7.32%, while the holding ratio of Samsung Electronics remained at 7.84%.Bank of America’s research report on October 16 suggests that the valuation of storage stocks may have bottomed out after about three and a half months of adjustment, and that storage chip prices and profits are still expected to remain high from 2027 to 2028. There are also views warning that if global AI companies cut capital expenditures, there may still be room for downward adjustments in the earnings expectations of the two companies. As of now, NPS has not made a formal response regarding the significant shrinkage in market value of its holdings.

NVIDIA has requested Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology to use TSMC's 3nm process for the production of NVHBM, while the core bare chips will utilize sixth-generation DRAM technology. Samsung Electronics has decided to accept NVIDIA's technical requirements but will not comment on matters involving customers.