The Easy Knowledge Blog

The announcements are done — now it comes down to how much has actually been executed

🎧 Post Summary

When Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix unveiled shareholder-return plans worth 110 trillion won and 40 trillion won respectively last month, the market’s reaction was starkly different. SK Hynix, which committed to retiring its shares outright, rallied sharply, while dividend-focused Samsung Electronics ironically fell as investors treated the announcement as a “spent catalyst.” More than two weeks on, how far have the two companies actually gotten with their buybacks, and what impact is that having on the market?

① Samsung and SK Hynix: Buybacks About a Quarter Complete

According to the latest tally, Samsung Electronics has acquired 13.8 million of its reported 53,285,968 shares, leaving 39,485,968 shares still to be bought, while SK Hynix has purchased 5.85 million of its reported 24.07 million shares, leaving 18.22 million remaining. Celltrion has also joined the buyback wave, having acquired 50,000 of its reported 524,384 shares. Combined, the three companies still have 58,100,352 shares left to buy back. The “event” of the announcement has passed, but actual execution has only reached about a quarter of the total so far.

② SK Hynix: From “We’ll Look Into It” to a 40 Trillion Won Retirement

When asked about shareholder-return plans on its earnings call, SK Hynix initially gave only a noncommittal “it’s under review.” Just days later, on August 19, its board abruptly approved buying back and fully retiring shares worth 40.043 trillion won. The move covers 24.07 million shares — about 3.3% of shares outstanding — to be purchased on the open market and cancelled entirely, moving up a shareholder-return plan originally slated for 2025-2027. The company said it would return more than 50% of free cash flow (FCF) through 2027 and would consider additional dividends and buybacks on top of that.

③ Why Samsung Got a Different Reaction

Samsung Electronics disclosed that it expects roughly 90-110 trillion won in remaining shareholder-return resources for 2026, but said it would first pay out about 30 trillion won in cash dividends, including its regular quarterly dividend, in the third quarter, and would decide on any buybacks or retirements for the remaining funds only at a board meeting in late January 2027. In other words, unlike SK Hynix’s firm retirement commitment, Samsung’s plan amounted to a “dividends first, retirement to be reviewed later” stance — falling short of the market’s hopes for an outright buyback commitment, which weighed on the stock in the short term.

④ What Buybacks Are Actually Doing to the Market

NH Investment & Securities analyst Ryu Young-ho said the large-scale shareholder returns from Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix could support share prices on the downside for the time being, beyond simply being a dividend or retirement policy. Indeed, between August 24 and 28, the two companies’ combined buyback purchases totaled about 8.05 trillion won — nearly matching foreign investors’ net sell-off of the Kospi over the same period, at about 8.32 trillion won. That means even as foreign buying weakens, companies can defend the floor of their own share prices by buying directly. Still, analysts draw a line between treating buybacks as an important supply-demand variable and treating them as a genuine driver of an uptrend. The remaining buyback capacity currently stands at about 44.7 trillion won, suggesting there’s room for continued support over the coming months.

⑤ September’s Real Variable: Foreign Selling vs. Corporate Buying

On September 10, the Kospi closed at 7,033.92, holding the 7,000 level thanks to individual buying even as foreign investors net-sold more than 2.7 trillion won. Looming over the market is the Fed’s FOMC meeting on September 15-16 (early morning of the 17th, Korea time). A Reuters survey found 70% of respondents expect the Fed to hold rates steady at this meeting — down sharply from 90% in last month’s survey. With the risk of heavier foreign selling rising, how much longer buybacks can hold this line is shaping up as the key thing to watch for chip stocks in September.

📌 Key Takeaways for Investors

• Buybacks and retirements can raise per-share value, but without earnings improvement they don’t guarantee a higher stock price.
• Even under the same “shareholder return” banner, short-term stock reactions can differ sharply depending on whether the plan centers on dividends or a firm retirement commitment.
• It’s worth tracking the remaining schedule too — when the reported buyback volume will be fully purchased, and when the actual retirement will take place.
• The real effectiveness of buybacks should be judged alongside foreign and institutional flow trends, not in isolation.

Buybacks have now moved past the “announcement” stage into a phase where they’re judged by actual execution. With both Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix still only about a quarter of the way through their buyback volumes, how the remaining shares affect the market will be an important thing to watch for Korean equities beyond September.

References

• Newsway – “Celltrion Joins Samsung and SK Hynix in the Buyback Wave Powering Kospi Liquidity” (newsway.co.kr)
• eToday – “SK Hynix’s Buyback-and-Retirement Mandate Boosts SK Securities, Samsung Securities Watches With Interest” (etoday.co.kr)
• Newspim – “SK Hynix’s 40 Trillion Won Buyback and Retirement… ‘A Shareholder Return That Changed Korean Capital Market History’” (newspim.com)
• EBN – “Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix Diverge on Bets… September’s Variable Is Buybacks” (ebn.co.kr)
• Financial News – “Even With a Lowered Earnings Outlook, ‘Samsung at 560,000 Won’… The Case for Chip Optimism” (fnnews.com)
• Opinion News – “Reuters: ‘70% Expect Fed to Hold Rates in September’” (opinionnews.co.kr)
• Businesskorea – “[Market Close] Kospi Retreats to the 7,030 Level as Foreign Investors Dump 2.7 Trillion Won” (businesskorea.co.kr)