[DiaryPoint | Reporter Kim Jung-hoon] Samsung Electronics reported 214.8 trillion won in cash and cash equivalents, including short-term financial instruments, at the end of the third quarter. That was up 24.8 trillion won from 190 trillion won at the end of the previous quarter and nearly twice the 108.5 trillion won recorded a year earlier.
Strong semiconductor results helped drive the increase. Samsung posted consolidated revenue of 195.3 trillion won and operating profit of 107.4 trillion won in the third quarter. Its Device Solutions (DS) division, which handles semiconductors, accounted for 147.1 trillion won in revenue and 106.5 trillion won in operating profit. The company cited expanded sales of HBM4 memory and its response to server demand as factors behind its record quarterly results.
Investment rises amid semiconductor boom
Samsung expects capital expenditures to total 84.4 trillion won this year. It plans to spend 76.8 trillion won in the DS division and 3.9 trillion won on displays, including investments in new memory fabs and its Taylor, Texas, foundry facilities. Research and development spending came to 14.4 trillion won in the third quarter.
Capital expenditures in the third quarter totaled 29 trillion won, up 12.2 trillion won from the previous quarter. Cumulative investment for the first three quarters reached 56.9 trillion won, including 52.8 trillion won in the DS division. Samsung said it is directing investment toward new production capacity and infrastructure to meet demand for AI and high-performance computing.
30 trillion won in dividends confirmed; board to decide on remaining returns
The confirmed dividend and the company’s broader shareholder-return outlook should be considered separately. Samsung set its third-quarter dividend at 4,601 won per share for both common and preferred shares, for a total of about 30 trillion won. Its projected shareholder returns for 2026 are 90 trillion to 110 trillion won. After subtracting the 35 trillion won already paid or confirmed, 55 trillion to 75 trillion won remains.
The remaining amount is expected to include cash dividends and share buybacks and cancellations. Samsung said it plans to adjust the share of preferred shares in buybacks and cancellations to account for the price difference between common and preferred shares. The final amount and its split between dividends and share repurchases have not yet been set.
Samsung plans to announce its next shareholder-return policy, along with the final amount and execution plan for this year’s remaining funds, after a board meeting at the end of January 2027. The 110 trillion won figure is the upper end of the company’s estimate for total returns this year and is separate from the confirmed third-quarter dividend.