Samsung set to become first local firm with over 200 trillion won cash
Its cash holdings reached 214.8 trillion won at the end of September, nearly double the level of a year earlier.
Samsung Electronics is poised to become the first South Korean company to hold more than 200 trillion won in cash assets, industry data showed on Sunday, South Korea's national news agency Yonhap reported.
The chipmaker's cash and cash equivalents are estimated at 214.8 trillion won as of the end of the third quarter, up from 190 trillion won three months earlier.
That figure is almost twice the 108.5 trillion won it held at the close of the third quarter of 2025.
Samsung's total assets stood at 791.8 trillion won at the end of September, an increase of 32.4 trillion won from the previous quarter.
Market watchers estimate that the company's current cash is sufficient to cover the full top-line amount of the shareholder return plan it unveiled in August.
Under that plan, the company has set aside about 90 trillion won to 110 trillion won for shareholder returns in 2026.
Samsung is also expected to spend more than 100 trillion won this year on chipmaking facilities and research and development, a record high, with 84.4 trillion won earmarked for expanding its memory production lines.
The company said it expects the semiconductor boom to continue through next year, supported by ongoing investment in artificial intelligence and a shortage of memory chips.
Samsung plans to announce its shareholder policy for next year at a board meeting scheduled for January.
Samsung is one of the world's largest makers of memory chips, which are widely used in AI data centers, and its results are closely watched as a gauge of demand in the sector.
