Samsung shares drop 3% despite record $80 billion profit as investors focus on chip division performance

Samsung shares fell 2.69% to 235,500 won on Thursday after the company reported a record quarterly operating profit of KRW 107.4 trillion, approximately $80 billion. While the chip division drove revenue to KRW 195.3 trillion and set records in memory sales and HBM4 chips for AI servers, the Device eXperience division lost KRW 0.8 trillion due to losses in mobile and TV units. Investors awaited details on capital returns, as Samsung declared a KRW 4,601 per share dividend and indicated 55–75 trillion won of its 2026 return budget would remain, including a substantial share buyback.