Samsung's quarterly figures disappoint: share down 4 percent

Samsung benefits fully from the global demand for AI chips, but there is little to be noticed at the fair on Thursday. The share fell by about 4 percent after the quarterly figures.

Investors had expected more and are particularly disappointed that Samsung is not providing clarity on additional distributions to shareholders for the time being.

Samsung will invest considerably more in the production of chips this year. The South Korean tech giant is allocating 84.4 trillion won, equivalent to around 63 billion dollars. That is more than sixty percent more than last year.

With this expansion, Samsung wants to conquer a larger part of the fast-growing market for AI chips. There, the company competes with SK Hynix and the American Micron, among others.

The demand for advanced memory chips is currently huge. Samsung has already sold out its production for 2027 and has now concluded ten long-term supply contracts with major customers.

That makes the company a lot of money. The operating profit of the chip division was fifteen times higher last quarter than a year earlier. Nevertheless, the result was about two percent lower than analysts had expected. Samsung's overall net profit also fell short of expectations.

The figures also contrasted with those of competitor SK Hynix, which announced surprisingly strong results a day earlier. That company was able to far exceed the expectations of analysts.

Investors had hoped not only for better figures, but also for additional dividends or the repurchase of their own shares. However, Samsung did not clarify this on Thursday. The company will not come up with new plans until January.

This is a setback for shareholders. Competitor SK Hynix announced about 45 billion dollars in new benefits the day before.

Samsung announced in August that it could return up to $79 billion to shareholders this year. It is not yet clear how much of this will actually be distributed and what part of the profit will go towards further expansion.

According to Josh Gilbert, analyst at eToro, January will therefore be an important moment. Samsung is investing 63 billion dollars this year, more than sixty percent more than last year. Investors want to know how much is left over for dividends and the purchase of their own shares.

Samsung isn't the only tech company under pressure. On Wednesday evening, the share of Alphabet, the parent company of Google, fell by almost eleven percent after disappointing quarterly figures. Investors are increasingly wondering whether the huge investments in AI are yielding enough.

For Samsung, the challenge lies mainly with advanced memory chips, which are used in Nvidia's AI systems, among other things. Sales of the latest HBM4 chips tripled last quarter. In the first half of 2027, Samsung also wants to start mass production of the next generation.

Nevertheless, competitor SK Hynix remains one step ahead. Samsung has sold out of its advanced memory chips through 2027, while SK Hynix is already full through 2029. According to that company, the global chip shortage will certainly continue until 2030.