SEOUL — Samsung Electronics is preparing to make a major decision that could reshape its relationship with investors, with the company’s board reportedly set to discuss a new shareholder-return package potentially worth more than $70 billion.
A person familiar with the matter told Reuters that Samsung Electronics plans to convene its board on Friday afternoon to discuss a new shareholder-return plan. The meeting is expected to take place after the South Korean stock market closes, although Samsung has declined to comment on the reported package.
The development comes after South Korean media reported that Samsung could unveil a shareholder-return program worth more than 100 trillion won, equivalent to roughly $71.75 billion at the exchange rate cited by Reuters.
Other reports have put the potential package even higher, with estimates ranging from 90 trillion won to 110 trillion won, or approximately $65 billion to $79 billion. The exact size and structure, however, remain unconfirmed until Samsung makes an official announcement.
Why Samsung Is Suddenly Under Pressure to Pay Investors
The potential payout comes at a remarkable moment for Samsung.
The world’s largest memory-chip maker is benefiting from an extraordinary surge in demand for semiconductors used in artificial-intelligence data centers. Samsung reported 171.5 trillion won in second-quarter revenue and 89.5 trillion won in operating profit, both quarterly records. Operating profit jumped more than 19-fold from the same period a year earlier.
Almost all of the company’s operating profit came from its semiconductor business, with the Device Solutions division generating 89.2 trillion won in operating profit during the quarter. Samsung’s Memory Business also recorded all-time highs in quarterly revenue and operating profit.
That explosion in earnings has dramatically increased expectations that Samsung should return more of its cash to shareholders.
Investors are particularly focused on whether the company will use a combination of cash dividends, special dividends and share buybacks or cancellations to distribute the money.
Samsung Already Has a Shareholder-Return Framework
The reported plan would represent a significant development beyond Samsung’s existing shareholder-return policy.
Under its current 2024–2026 program, Samsung committed to returning 50% of free cash flow to shareholders and paying regular annual dividends of 9.8 trillion won. The company also said it could consider additional capital returns if it determined that there was a significant surplus of capital.
Samsung disclosed in March 2026 that, for 2024 and 2025, it had already returned 20.9 trillion won through cash dividends, including regular and special dividends, along with 8.4 trillion won in share repurchases for cancellation. The company said additional capital could be returned in 2026 if its free cash flow exceeded the amounts required under the existing program.
That makes the rumored new package particularly significant: it could signal a much more aggressive approach to capital distribution as Samsung enters the final year of its existing shareholder-return framework.
SK Hynix Has Raised the Stakes
Samsung is also facing competitive pressure from its South Korean memory-chip rival SK Hynix.
On Wednesday, SK Hynix announced plans to buy back and cancel 40 trillion won ($28.61 billion) worth of its own shares between Aug. 20 and Nov. 19. The company also committed to returning more than 50% of its free cash flow generated from 2025 through 2027 to shareholders.
The move followed a sharp sell-off in SK Hynix shares and growing investor concerns over the sustainability of AI-related spending.
The announcement immediately raised the pressure on Samsung to demonstrate that its own enormous AI-driven cash generation will translate into meaningful shareholder returns.
Reuters described SK Hynix’s move as putting pressure on Samsung to follow suit as investors demand a larger share of the semiconductor industry’s AI windfall.
The Bigger Problem: AI Spending vs. Investor Returns
Samsung’s challenge is not simply deciding how much money to hand back.
The company is simultaneously trying to capitalize on what could be one of the biggest semiconductor investment cycles in history.
Samsung has said it plans to invest more than 110 trillion won in facilities and research and development during 2026 as it seeks to strengthen its position in AI semiconductors, including high-bandwidth memory, advanced packaging and foundry services.
The company is therefore facing a difficult balancing act:
Return cash to shareholders — or preserve more capital for the next phase of the AI chip boom.
Investors want both.
Samsung’s Semiconductor Business Is Entering a Critical Phase
The pressure comes as Samsung tries to strengthen its position in high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, a key component in AI computing systems.
The company has also recently raised prices for certain advanced contract-chipmaking services by as much as 15%, according to Reuters, amid surging AI-chip demand and capacity constraints at rival foundries.
Samsung’s foundry operation has historically struggled to match Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. in profitability and market share. But the current AI-driven capacity crunch could provide Samsung with an opportunity to improve utilization and pricing.
At the same time, Samsung cannot assume the AI boom will continue indefinitely.
Analysts have warned that massive investments in AI infrastructure could eventually create excess semiconductor capacity or slow if technology companies reduce capital spending. That tension has already contributed to volatility across global semiconductor stocks.
What Investors Will Be Watching
If Samsung confirms a large shareholder-return program, investors will be watching several details closely:
- The final size of the package
- How much goes to regular and special dividends
- Whether Samsung launches a new share-buyback or cancellation program
- The percentage of free cash flow allocated to shareholders
- The duration of the new policy
- Whether the payout affects Samsung’s ability to fund AI-chip expansion and acquisitions
The difference between a large headline figure and the actual amount distributed to investors could also be substantial.
A multiyear commitment, for example, would have a very different financial impact from a one-time special dividend or immediate share repurchase.
The Bottom Line
Samsung’s reported shareholder-return plan is emerging at the intersection of two powerful forces: record AI-driven semiconductor profits and growing investor demands for cash returns.
The company generated a record 89.5 trillion won in quarterly operating profit, giving it considerably more financial firepower than it had when its current shareholder-return program was established.
But the market’s biggest question may not be whether Samsung can afford to return tens of trillions of won.
It is whether Samsung is willing to return enough to satisfy investors while still spending aggressively enough to avoid falling behind in the next generation of AI semiconductors.
And with SK Hynix already committing tens of trillions of won to buybacks, the pressure is only getting stronger.
For now, the reported $70 billion-plus figure remains unconfirmed. The board’s decision and Samsung’s eventual announcement will determine whether the rumored package becomes one of the company’s most consequential shareholder-return moves yet.
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