Samsung and SK Hynix announce $97 billion in shareholder payouts, KOSPI still 26% below record high
South Korea's two largest tech firms plan massive returns to shareholders totaling over $97 billion, yet the national stock market remains deeply undervalued.
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix announced combined shareholder-return plans worth more than 130 trillion won ($97 billion) for this year. An artificial intelligence boom has given these companies excess cash, driving investor pressure for larger returns despite the substantial payouts. However, investors remain concerned that such large distributions have failed to fully satisfy market expectations regarding corporate governance and capital allocation. Consequently, the benchmark KOSPI index, which accounts for nearly half of its weighting from these two firms, continues trading at a 26% discount to its record high reached in June. President Lee Jae Myung's Value-Up programme launched in 2024 aims to address this Korea discount, but the subdued market response indicates significant challenges remain. The persistence of this valuation gap suggests that improving corporate valuations requires more than just large-scale payouts from major tech conglomerates.
