Samsung Launches $1.73 Billion Share Buyback to Reward Staff

Samsung Electronics has announced a plan to repurchase 18 million of its common shares, valued at 2.5 trillion won ($1.73 billion), to reward employees and executives. 

Samsung said the share buyback will occur on the stock market between January 8 and April 7, 2026, with the repurchased shares to be held as treasury stock and allocated to performance-linked incentive programmes.

The scheme, first introduced in October 2025, is designed to tie compensation directly to company performance. In offering stock-based rewards, Samsung hopes to retain top engineers and executives as competition for advanced AI memory chips increases.

The company is preparing production of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and DRAM, both essential for next-generation AI applications.

Memory chip prices are currently surging. DDR5 DRAM costs jumped 314% year-on-year in Q4 2025, and analysts expect another 55–60% rise in DRAM contract prices during the first quarter of 2026. 

Competitors, including SK Hynix and Micron, have already secured substantial supply deals with Nvidia, strengthening the stakes in the global AI chip race.

Analysts in the industry interpret the Samsung share buyback as a sign of confidence in the company’s profit outlook. Projections show the company could exceed 100 trillion won in operating profit for 2026, more than double its 2025 figures. 

The programme is also likely to bolster Samsung’s share price, which surged 125% in 2025, its largest annual profit in 26 years.