Samsung plans major stock buyback to continue 2026 hot start

Samsung Electronics revealed plans Wednesday to purchase 2.5 trillion won worth of its own stock, equal to roughly $1.73 billion, to use for paying employees and executives.

The company will buy these shares through the stock market starting January 8 and continuing until April 7, according to documents filed with regulators seen by Reuters. The announcement comes as Samsung works to strengthen its position in the semiconductor industry.

Sources report that Qualcomm is currently negotiating with Samsung about making advanced computer chips using two-nanometre technology.

Cristiano Amon, who leads Qualcomm as CEO, told the Korea Economic Daily on Wednesday that his company is talking with Samsung first among several chip manufacturers about producing these cutting-edge processors. He mentioned that design work has already wrapped up and the chips should hit the market soon.

Foundry business shows signs of recovery

Last week, Jun Young-hyun, who serves as co-CEO and oversees Samsung’s chip operations, said new contracts with important customers have positioned the company’s foundry division for major growth. The foundry business, which makes chips designed by other companies, has been losing money but appears ready to turn around. As reported by Cryptopolitan previously, Samsung signed a massive $16.5 billion agreement with Tesla back in July.

Jun also shared positive feedback about Samsung’s newest memory chips in his New Year message to staff. He said customers have been impressed with the company’s HBM4 chips, which are high-bandwidth memory products used in advanced computing.

Some customers even told Samsung directly that “Samsung is back,” according to Jun’s remarks that Reuters reviewed. He added that the company still needs to keep improving to stay competitive.

Back in October, Samsung announced it was in serious talks to provide these HBM4 chips to Nvidia, the American company that dominates artificial intelligence technology. Samsung has been racing to catch up with competitors like SK Hynix in the AI chip market.

SK Hynix warns of tougher competition ahead

Meanwhile, Kwak Noh-Jung, who runs SK Hynix, spoke about his company’s situation in his own New Year address. He said SK Hynix benefited because demand for AI chips grew faster than anyone expected.

However, he warned that competition is getting fiercer. What used to be a pleasant surprise is now just normal business, and 2026 will be harder than 2025. He stressed the need for bigger investments and more preparation for what lies ahead.

Numbers from Counterpoint Research show SK Hynix controlled 53% of the HBM market during the third quarter of 2025. Samsung held 35% while Micron had 11%.

Both companies saw their stock prices jump on the first trading day of the new year. Samsung shares climbed 7.2% while SK Hynix rose 4%. Both hit record highs and performed better than the broader KOSPI index, which gained 2.3%.

TM Roh, Samsung’s other co-CEO who manages the divisions that make phones, televisions and home appliances, warned about challenges ahead. He said 2026 will likely bring more uncertainty and risk because component prices are rising and countries are putting up trade barriers.

To handle these problems, Roh said Samsung will spread out its supply chain and improve how it operates globally to deal with sourcing issues, pricing pressure and tariff threats while keeping its competitive edge.

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