Samsung to buy back $7 billion worth of shares amid stock downturn

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Samsung to buy back $7 billion worth of shares amid stock downturn

Published: 15 Nov. 2024, 18:27 Updated: 17 Nov. 2024, 18:23

CHO YONG-JUN
[email protected]

A monitor screen at the Korea Exchange in western Seoul shows Samsung Electronics closing at 49,900 won on Nov. 14. [NEWS1]

Samsung Electronics announced a multibillion dollar share buyback after its stock saw its steepest rise in nearly four years.

The tech giant said on Nov. 15 that it would repurchase 10 trillion won ($7.17 billion) in phases in an attempt to further bolster its stock price. It will conduct the buyback from Monday through Feb. 17, 2025.

The company will purchase, then cancel, 3 trillion won worth of shares in the next three months, composed of 50.14 million common shares and 6.91 million preferred shares.

The remaining 7 trillion won repurchase “will be authorized accordingly by the board,” according to Samsung Electronics, which added that further details regarding the buyback will be “decided in the future.”

Samsung Electronics shares closed down for six straight days until Nov. 14, when they closed at 49,900 won, below the 50,000 won mark for the first time since June 2020. The stock snapped the losing streak on Nov. 15, bouncing back 7.21 percent to close at 53,500 won.

The company said the repurchase was intended to “boost its shareholder value” in an electronic disclosure the same day.

This year, Samsung’s 60 C-suite executives repurchased a total of 15.8 billion worth of shares, including Han Jong-hee, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics heading the DX (Device Experience) division, chip division head Jun Young-hyun and mobile business head Roh Tae-moon, according to the company’s regulatory filings.

Korea Exchange data on Sunday showed that Samsung Electronics was the most popular stock among investors, with total purchases exceeding 2.33 trillion won over the eight days following the U.S. presidential election, five times more than the next most-purchased stock, Samsung SDI, which saw purchases totaling 442.7 billion won.

During the same period, foreign investors net sold 2.48 trillion won of Samsung Electronics shares. Given that the total net sell by foreign investors on the Kospi was 1.92 trillion won for the eight days, it indicates that they actually net purchased of other stocks on Kospi besides the chipmaker's.

Updated, Nov. 17: Added information about executive share repurchases, Korea Exchange data.

BY CHO YONG-JUN, LEE JAE-LIM [[email protected]]