Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which have moved in the same direction on 8 out of every 10 trading days this year, showed diverging stock price trends around their recent earnings announcements.

Fueled by rising memory semiconductor prices, the synchronization of the two companies' stock prices became more pronounced compared to last year. However, during the third-quarter earnings announcements, market interest concentrated heavily on shareholder returns, causing their stock movements to split.

According to the Korea Exchange on November 1, out of a total of 202 trading days from the beginning of the year to October 30, the stock prices of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix moved in tandem—either both rising or both falling—on 162 days, accounting to 80.2% of the total.

They rose together on 91 days and fell together on 71 days.

Days when only SK Hynix rose numbered 19, while days when only Samsung Electronics rose totaled 15, with the remaining 6 days seeing at least one of the stocks finish flat.

Last year, out of 242 trading days, the two stocks moved in the same direction on 161 days (66.5%).

In 2024, they did so on only 148 out of 244 trading days (60.66%).

This is interpreted as a result of the expanding demand for memory and rising prices driven by the growth of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry, which improved the earnings of both companies and made overall industry conditions more influential than individual corporate technological competitiveness.

However, the recent earnings releases served as an inflection point where the stock prices of the two companies diverged.

On October 28, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both surged by 9% to 10%.

This was driven by an initial public offering (IPO) filing from U.S. artificial intelligence firm Anthropic, which revealed steep revenue growth and a turnaround to adjusted operating profit on a semi-annual basis for the first time, partially easing concerns over profitability in the AI industry.

The following day, however, only Samsung Electronics turned downward.

Samsung Electronics, which released its detailed third-quarter earnings on October 29, fell 4.13%, whereas SK Hynix, which disclosed its earnings a day earlier, rose 2.62%.

This divergence occurred even though both stocks reported strong earnings, due to differing market evaluations.

Nevertheless, on October 30, both stocks moved in the same direction again amid a broader plunge in U.S. tech shares, with Samsung Electronics dropping 3.02% and SK Hynix falling 7.08%.

The aspect that the market focused on in particular was shareholder return policy.

SK Hynix announced an additional shareholder return package valued at 60 trillion won.

Including the recently completed 40 trillion won share buyback, the company presented an annual shareholder return plan totaling about 100 trillion won for the year.

The cash dividend scale is set at over 30 trillion won, and the acquisition and cancellation of treasury shares will amount to over 60 trillion won.

During the earnings conference call, the company also expressed confidence in mid- to long-term demand, revealing that the volume of High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) requested by customers exceeds twice the available supply capacity, and that DRAM and HBM supplies are virtually sold out through 2029.

Positive evaluations were also given to the fact that SK Hynix President Kwak Noh-jung directly participated in the earnings conference call, and that the company withdrew its push to list its U.S. subsidiary Solidigm, which had previously raised concerns over potential shareholder value dilution.

On the other hand, Samsung Electronics announced a shareholder return policy of up to 110 trillion won this year, including 30 trillion won in cash dividends, but decided to finalize the specific details at a board meeting at the end of January next year.

Previously, Samsung Electronics held a board meeting in August and resolved a plan to implement 2026 shareholder returns amounting to between 90 trillion won and 110 trillion won.

While both companies presented massive shareholder return policies, market assessments reportedly split because Samsung Electronics has yet to announce its specific execution plans.

A semiconductor researcher speaking on condition of anonymity said, "Samsung Electronics not discussing shareholder returns additionally during this earnings announcement appears to have had the biggest impact on the stock price drop," adding, "In contrast, SK Hynix had a completely different conference call atmosphere, as share buybacks began immediately and strong demand forecasts were presented."

During the second-quarter earnings announcements, the primary focus was on long-term supply agreements (LTAs), which serve as a gauge for the sustainability of the memory boom.

At the time, securities analysts evaluated that time was needed to verify the effectiveness of LTAs.

Consequently, on July 29, the day SK Hynix announced its second-quarter earnings, its stock plummeted 9.61%, while Samsung Electronics—which released its earnings the next day—also fell 0.72%, though its decline was somewhat more limited.

On the same day, SK Hynix dropped an additional 5.64%.

Ryu Hyung-keun, a researcher at Daishin Securities, noted in a phone call with Yonhap News, "The second quarter was a timing when LTAs were being formed, so there were many questions related to that." He explained, "In the third quarter, as market uncertainties grew, attention concentrated on shareholder returns such as share buybacks, which could be expected to provide an immediate stock-boosting effect."

Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiom Securities, said, "During a phase where stock prices are rising, people check the scale of profits and earnings visibility. However, when stock prices fall despite growing profits, other factors are needed to support them." She added, "Recently, interest has gravitated toward the monetization of corporate growth—specifically, how the secured cash is being returned to shareholders."