Samsung's Record Profit Undercut by $28 Billion Rival Listing and Internal Cost Pressures
Published on 07/09/2026 at 16:37 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
Samsung Electronics delivered the fattest quarterly profit in its history for the second quarter of 2026, yet the stock tumbled more than 7% in a single session. The culprit lies not with its own numbers but with a blockbuster share sale by archrival SK Hynix, which siphoned off capital that might otherwise have flowed into Samsung equity.
SK Hynix is placing American Depositary Receipts on the Nasdaq this week in a deal valued at roughly $28 billion — the second-largest listing ever after SpaceX. eToro analyst Wong noted the timing coincided with Samsung's earnings week, triggering "rotational capital" away from the Korean giant. Samsung closed Wednesday at 277,500 won, down 7% from the previous week, while the 30-day slide widened to 14.29%.
The earnings themselves were stellar by any measure. Samsung reported an operating profit of 89.4 trillion won ($58.6 billion) for the second quarter, topping the market consensus of 84.16 trillion won by 6.2%. Revenue hit 171 trillion won. The semiconductor division was the star, fueled by insatiable demand for AI memory chips, while the smartphone unit bled billions as high chip costs — now 40% of a standard handset's bill of materials — crushed margins. A portion of the record result came from restructuring bonus provisions, with analysts estimating those special payouts, including retroactive adjustments for the first quarter, at between 15 trillion and 19 trillion won. Without them, operating profit would have breached the 100 trillion won threshold.
The disconnect between earnings and share price runs deeper than the SK Hynix overhang. Counterpoint analyst Tom Kang told CNBC that pent-up pressures from labor unions and the government, both demanding a larger share of the windfall, are weighing on sentiment. There is also anxiety that memory prices may have peaked, though monthly price checks continue to show upward momentum for the current quarter. Samsung has responded by ramping up mass production of specialized SSD storage for Nvidia's new AI platform, aiming to buttress consumer-segment weakness with higher-margin component sales.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Samsung Electronics?
Valuation metrics underscore how cheaply Korean memory plays trade relative to their global peers. TSMC changes hands at 23.1 times earnings, Micron at 11.2 times, and Kioxia at 10.6 times. SK Hynix and Samsung languish at 6.6 times and 6.0 times respectively — discounts of roughly 56% and 60%. That gap has persisted for some time, and the current rotation toward SK Hynix equity is unlikely to narrow it quickly.
On the chart, Samsung sits about 26% below its 52-week high of 374,500 won hit on June 19. The stock is 8.6% beneath its 50-day moving average of 302,090 won, and the relative strength index of 41.6 signals a correction in progress rather than an oversold condition. Yet the longer-term picture remains impressive: the shares are up around 117% year-to-date and have more than tripled over the past twelve months.
Analyst views diverge sharply. KB Securities retains a target of 600,000 won, dismissing worries about a potential slowdown in AI demand as noise. Kiwoom Securities is more cautious, cutting its target to 390,000 won on concerns that the memory cycle may be approaching a zenith and that rising labor costs from recent wage deals will squeeze margins. The Bank of Korea has characterized the recent sell-off as a normal correction following an overheated rally in the semiconductor sector, while Meritz Securities expects the memory supercycle to persist for another two to three years.
Samsung Electronics at a turning point? This analysis reveals what investors need to know now.
Samsung will release its full quarterly breakdown later this month, offering finer detail on divisional performance. Until then, the SK Hynix ADR listing in New York looks set to remain the dominant force moving both Korean chipmakers' stocks — a reminder that even record profits can be upstaged by a rival's capital-raising ambitions.
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