When a company makes billions from the artificial intelligence boom, the people who own the stock expect a massive reward. But when that payout gets split into pieces, the cheering stops and the complaining starts.
There is a specific kind of pressure that comes with having too much money. When your profits jump 250-fold in a single quarter because the whole world is buying your microchips, the people holding your stock start demanding their share of the gold rush.
Samsung Electronics is currently swimming in cash. By the end of the year, Samsung and its rival SK Hynix are expected to hold a combined $263 billion in net cash. That is more than double what Nvidia is sitting on, and it is more than the other six “Magnificent Seven” American tech giants combined.
To keep investors happy, Samsung announced it expects to hand back up to 110 trillion won, or about $79.5 billion, this year. That includes a massive 30 trillion won cash dividend for the third quarter, and a 15 trillion won share buyback to cover employee stock bonuses. Under a policy set in 2024, the company promised to give half of its free cash flow back to shareholders over a three-year stretch.
But financial markets are never easily satisfied.
Sanjeev Rana, head of research at CLSA Securities Korea, pointed out the friction in the boardroom’s strategy. He noted the returns should “help set a floor for the share price,” but admitted that “some may have expected the entire package in one go.”
Investors usually prefer buybacks because it creates immediate demand for the stock. Rana was blunt about it: “from a share price perspective a buyback would have been better.”
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The timing is everything. Samsung’s shares climbed an incredible 300% over the last 12 months. But since hitting a record high in June, the stock has slipped. People are getting nervous that the massive global spending on AI might actually start to slow down.
The board will meet again in January 2027 to figure out the rest of the payouts. The chips are selling, and the cash is piling up in the bank. But when you promise people a piece of the AI gold rush, handing it out in installments is a quick way to make them wonder if the gold is really there.
