[Anchor]

Samsung Electronics announced record-high earnings today (October 29), but its stock price actually plummeted by more than 4%. The drop appears driven by growing market disappointment as the decision on shareholder return measures, which investors had high hopes for, was postponed to next January.

Reporter Choi Seung-hun has the story.

[Reporter]

At 9:00 AM, Samsung Electronics shares started the session on an upward trend.

This was driven by anticipation ahead of the earnings announcement an hour later, but the mood shifted as soon as the announcement began.

Despite reporting that third-quarter revenue reached 195 trillion won and operating profit surged to 107 trillion won—earning about nine times more than the same period last year—the stock price turned downward.

As Samsung Electronics had previously signaled record earnings, investor interest was focused on additional shareholder return policies.

However, analysts say disappointment grew as no new plans were unveiled.

Samsung had previously signaled that it would return more than 100 trillion won to shareholders this year, but what was officially announced today was only a 30 trillion won cash dividend.

How to use the remaining up to 75 trillion won has been delayed for a decision next January.

[Park Soon-chul / CFO and Executive Vice President, Samsung Electronics: The new shareholder return policy and the final scale of shareholder returns will be finalized at the board of directors meeting scheduled for late January 2027.]

Immediately following this announcement, Samsung Electronics shares tumbled by over 6% before finally closing down 4.13% at 232,000 won.

Although the company stated that a significant portion of the 75 trillion won would be used to buy back and retire treasury shares, market evaluations indicate that it failed to meet heightened investor expectations.

The KOSPI index, which had jumped 10% over the previous two days, also fell by more than 1%, giving up the 6,000 mark in just a single day.

In contrast, SK Hynix, which announced an additional 60 trillion won in shareholder returns yesterday, finished the trading session up 2.6%.

(Video by: Choi Ho-jun | Video editing by: Kim Jong-mi | Graphics by: Kim Han-gil)