Samsung to become 1st South Korean firm with $146.6 billion cash assets: Data

Seoul: Helped by the artificial intelligence-led (AI) chip supercycle, Samsung Electronics is poised to become the first South Korean company with cash assets of over 200 trillion won ($146.6 billion), industry data showed on Sunday.

Cash and cash equivalents at the chip giant are estimated to have reached 214.8 trillion won as of the third quarter, up 24.8 trillion won from 190 trillion won recorded three months earlier, according to the data.

The amount is also nearly double from the 108.5 trillion won recorded at the end of the third quarter of 2025, reports Yonhap news agency.

Total assets owned by the company reached 791.8 trillion won as of end-September, up 32.4 trillion won from three months earlier.

Market watchers estimate Samsung's current cash assets are enough to fully fund the top-line payout in its landmark shareholder return policy announced in August. The chip behemoth said about 90 trillion won to 110 trillion won will be available for shareholder returns in 2026.

Investments into chipmaking infrastructure and research and development are expected to reach a historic high of over 100 trillion won this year, too, with 84.4 trillion won to be spent in expanding its memory production facilities.

Samsung said it expects the semiconductor supercycle to continue through next year amid sustained investments in AI and a memory supply crunch while adding it plans to announce its shareholder policy for the coming year at a board meeting scheduled for January.

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics’ third-quarter net profit jumped more than sixfold from a year earlier as strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI)-related semiconductors boosted earnings.

Net profit for the July-September period came to 75.13 trillion won (US$56.2 billion), up 514.6 percent from 12.22 trillion won a year earlier, the world's largest memory chipmaker said in a regulatory filing.

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