Business
Samsung, SK hynix post record Q3 earnings; shareholder returns send mixed signals
South Korea's two semiconductor giants, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, both unveiled record-shattering third-quarter earnings alongside large shareholder-return plans. Samsung's Q3 operating profit surged 783 percent year-on-year to 107.4 trillion won (about 80.5 billion dollars), extending its streak of record sales and profit to four consecutive quarters. Revenue rose 127 percent to 195.3 trillion won (about 146.3 billion dollars), with semiconductors accounting for over 99 percent of operating profit. SK hynix posted 83.3 trillion won in operating profit, up 632 percent, as revenue topped 104.6 trillion won, crossing the 100-trillion-won mark for the first time.
Both chipmakers rode surging AI data center demand for HBM4 and enterprise SSDs. On a global scale, Samsung Electronics recorded the highest quarterly operating profit among tech companies, while SK hynix ranked third worldwide at roughly 62.4 billion dollars, ahead of Microsoft, Alphabet, and Apple. Yet their shares moved in opposite directions: SK hynix, which immediately approved about 100 trillion won in annual returns and a 20-trillion-won buyback (10 trillion won for cancellation), stayed strong, whereas Samsung, which announced a 30-trillion-won dividend payable November 27 but deferred buybacks and cancellations to next January, slipped more than 4 percent to close at 232,000 won.
The two firms represent roughly 50 percent of the entire KOSPI market cap, and nearly 200 trillion won in combined annual dividends and share cancellations build a firm downside floor. On the macro front, semiconductor exports hit a record 60.3 billion dollars in September, half of total exports, and third-quarter GDP grew 1 percent quarter-on-quarter, driven by a 4.1 percent jump in chip-led facility investment. With agentic AI adoption and mass production of next-generation HBM4E, chipmakers expect memory demand to stay ahead of supply into 2027, and SK hynix said its DRAM and HBM are sold out through the end of 2029.