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.

This follows a previous buyback of the same amount that commenced in March 2024.

The new programme will be executed in two phases, with the first tranche targeting $50 million, set to conclude by April 24, 2025.

The company aims to enhance shareholder value by canceling repurchased shares, reflecting its robust financial health and commitment to capital optimisation

The sole purpose of the buy-back programme is to reduce the capital of the Company. As such, all shares purchased under the buy-back programme will be cancelled.

The share buy-back programme is expected to be phased over two tranches, with the first tranche commencing Monday December 23 and anticipated to end on or before April 24, 2025. The first tranche will amount to a maximum of $50 million.

The company said it entered into an agreement with Barclays Capital Securities Limited (Barclays) to conduct the first tranche of the buy-back and carry out on-market purchases of its ordinary shares with the Company subsequently purchasing its ordinary shares from Barclays.

Under this agreement, Barclays will act as riskless principal and will make decisions independently of the Company.

Airtel Africa said the share buyback reflects the Board’s confidence in the Company’s continued growth potential, the strength of its balance sheet and the consistent cash accretion at the holding company level.

The buyback remains in line with the Company’s existing capital allocation policy. The programme will be executed in accordance with applicable securities laws and regulation.

Any purchases of ordinary shares under the buy-back programme will be carried out in accordance with certain pre-set parameters set out in the agreement with Barclays and in accordance with (and subject to the limits prescribed by) the Company’s general authority to repurchase ordinary shares granted by its shareholders from time to time.

At the annual general meeting on July 3, 2024 shareholders gave the Company authority to purchase a maximum of 374,141,187 ordinary shares and following the completion of the previous buyback, the remaining authority amounts to a maximum of 328,842,995 ordinary shares).