◇ Sharp Drop After Breaking Through the 6,100 Mark Early in the Session… Mixed Fortunes for Samsung and INICS Corporation
According to MP Doctor on the 29th, the KOSPI closed at 5,937.66, down 74.78 points (1.24%) from the previous trading day. The index opened higher at 6,017.22 and rose to 6,100.11 before 10 a.m., but subsequently turned lower, falling as far as 5,817.92 during the session. In the afternoon, the index appears to have partially recovered its losses, driven by SK hynix’s resumption of its share buyback program and a lull in net selling by institutional investors. However, it failed to regain the 6,000-point level. The previous day, the KOSPI had surged 6.63% to close at 6,012.44.
In the stock market, retail investors and foreign investors were net buyers of 33.3 billion won and 69.1 billion won, respectively. In contrast, institutional investors were net sellers of 447.1 billion won.
SamsungElectronics(005930)closed at 232,000 won, down 10,000 won (4.13%) from the previous trading day. Although it rose as high as 249,000 won early in the session, it turned lower around the time of its earnings announcement.
In contrast, SK hynix(000660)closed at 1,526,000 won, up 39,000 won (2.62%). SK hynix had surged 10.89% the previous day, buoyed by the announcement that its quarterly revenue had surpassed 100 trillion won for the first time in history and the unveiling of an additional 60 trillion won shareholder return plan.
◇Samsung’s Record Earnings as Expected… ‘Disappointment Selling’ Due to Lack of Specific Shareholder Return Plan
SamsungElectronics announced its finalized third-quarter consolidated results today, reporting revenue of 195.2532 trillion won and operating profit of 107.4405 trillion won. These figures represent year-over-year increases of 126.9% and 783.1%, respectively, marking the company’s fourth consecutive quarter of record-breaking earnings. SamsungElectronics explained that it had signed contracts with 10 customers under long-term supply agreements (LTAs) and had completed sales of its 2027 high-bandwidth memory (HBM) supply volume at the target price.
However, analysts note that these strong results were already anticipated following the company’s previous preliminary earnings announcement, and that its shareholder return plan fell short of heightened market expectations.
Park Soon-chul, SamsungElectronics’ Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Executive Vice President, stated during the earnings conference call, “Considering the 35 trillion won in shareholder returns already executed—including the 30 trillion won in cash dividends confirmed by today’s board resolution—out of the total 90 trillion to 110 trillion won in shareholder returns planned for 2026, the remaining funds amount to 55 trillion to 75 trillion won.” He added, “We plan to return the remaining funds to shareholders through cash dividends as well as the purchase and cancellation of a significant number of treasury shares,” but explained that the specific scale and implementation plan would be finalized and announced at a board meeting in late January of next year.
The securities industry analyzed that sell-offs driven by disappointment occurred because SamsungElectronics’ annual shareholder return amount remained unchanged from the level presented last August, and no specific details regarding additional share buybacks and cancellations were provided.
Lee Young-gon, head of the Research Center at Toss Securities, said, “Since the record-breaking earnings had already been confirmed in the preliminary earnings announcement, they did not become a major issue today,” adding, “While the scale and general direction of shareholder returns were confirmed, it appears that some disappointed selling occurred because specific shareholder return policies were not finalized.”
There was also analysis suggesting that the schedule for the stock gift to SamsungElectronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee could influence the announcement of proactive shareholder return measures. Hong Ra-hee, Honorary Director of the Leeum Museum of Art, plans to gift 11,158,000 shares of SamsungElectronics stock to Chairman Lee on the 12th of next month. Kang Jin-hyuk, a senior researcher at Shinhan Investment Securities, analyzed, “Since the gift tax is calculated based on the average stock price from September 12 to January 12 of next year, concerns have arisen that the announcement of proactive shareholder return measures could be delayed.”
◇ Mixed Earnings from U.S. Big Tech Weigh on Investor Sentiment… KOSDAQ Also Down 2%
Last night’s mixed earnings reports from U.S. Big Tech companies are also seen as weighing on investor sentiment. While the three major U.S. stock indices all rose amid the U.S. Federal Reserve’s (Fed) expected decision to hold interest rates steady, after-hours stock price movements for Microsoft (MS) and Alphabet—which reported earnings after the market closed—were mixed. In particular, concerns about the profitability of artificial intelligence (AI) investments came to the fore as Alphabet’s revenue fell short of market expectations and its free cash flow remained in the red.
Among the top KOSPI stocks by market capitalization, LG Energy Solution(373220)(-8.60%), SamsungElectronics(1P)(005935)(-3.26%), HyundaiMotor(005380)(-1.18%), and SamsungElectroMechanics(009150)(-1.00%) all fell. In contrast, SKSQUARE(402340)(3.47%) and KB Financial Group(105560)(1.82%) rose.
The KOSDAQ Index closed at 753.23, down 18.05 points (2.34%) from the previous trading day. Retail investors were net buyers of 217.4 billion won, while foreign and institutional investors were net sellers of 130.8 billion won and 75.9 billion won, respectively. Rainbow Robotics(277810) The top 10 stocks by market capitalization—including (-6.55%), ECOPRO BM CO., LTD.(247540)(-5.64%), ECOPRO CO., LTD(086520)(-4.43%), and Alteogen Inc.(196170)(-1.35%)—all fell.
