Samsung's cash pile swells as foreign stake hits 17-year low

Weekend reports showed the AI-fueled memory boom in two places at Samsung Electronics: an estimated record cash pile and a larger part in Qualcomm’s car business. Over the same stretch, foreign investors pared their stake in the company to the smallest in 17 years.

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A cash pile no Korean company has held before

Industry data released on Sunday, Nov 8, 2026, put Samsung Electronics’ cash and cash equivalents at an estimated 214.8 trillion won (about US$158.3 billion), The Korea Times reported. Chosunbiz rounded the figure to 215 trillion won.

At that level, Samsung would be the first Korean company with more than 200 trillion won in cash assets, according to The Korea Times and Yonhap. The pile has been growing by about 270 billion won (about US$199 million) every day, The Chosun Daily reported.

The Korea Times, Yonhap, The Chosun Daily and JoongAng Daily all tied the build-up to the chip boom driven by artificial intelligence, with memory chips doing the most work.

The outlets stressed different uses for the money. Chosunbiz reported that Samsung is aiming for large share buybacks and record spending on research and development. JoongAng Daily wrote that the cash widens Samsung’s room for shareholder returns, AI-related investment and more chip production.

The cash figure comes after Samsung’s preliminary third-quarter results, an early estimate it filed on Oct 29. Consolidated operating profit reached 107.44 trillion won (about US$79.2 billion) on revenue of 195.25 trillion won (about US$143.9 billion). Profit rose 783.11% from a year earlier. It was also the highest of the six quarters starting with the second quarter of 2025.

Samsung’s quarterly dividend of 4,601 won a share, for shareholders on record as of Sept 30, is due to be paid on Nov 27.

Foreign ownership of Samsung drops to a 17-year low

Foreign investors’ net selling of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix shares totaled 7.6 trillion won (about US$5.6 billion) last week, Seoul Economic Daily reported. That outlet called the total nearly 8 trillion won.

The outflow left foreign ownership of Samsung at its lowest level in 17 years, according to Seoul Economic Daily and Chosunbiz. Chosunbiz described the foreign selling as reaching both of Korea’s chip giants, not Samsung alone.

Samsung shares lost 16.13% over the five sessions to Nov 6. They closed that day at 188,700 won (US$139.10).

The broader market had a rough end to the week. On Nov 6, the KOSPI, Korea’s main stock index, fell 6.02% to 5,059.69. Foreign investors’ net selling across all KOSPI shares that day came to 2.6268 trillion won (about US$1.94 billion), a measure of how foreign money moves the market that is published daily.

A larger role in Qualcomm’s car chips

Qualcomm has named Samsung Electronics a key supplier of memory for its automotive business in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, The Chosun Daily reported.

The filing marks an expansion of the two companies’ existing collaboration into memory for cars, according to The Chosun Daily. Samsung holds a 40% share of this supply, The Chosun Daily reported.

Qualcomm’s automotive revenue rose 52%, The Chosun Daily also reported. That puts Samsung’s memory inside one of the faster-growing parts of the US chip designer’s business.

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Information only, not investment advice.