Hana Securities said on the 13th that Samsung Electronics' earnings are likely to be revised up. It added that shareholder value return policies are also expected. It maintained its investment opinion of Buy and raised its target price to 300,000 won from 250,000 won. The previous trading day's closing price of Samsung Electronics was 187,000 won.
Hana Securities estimated Samsung Electronics' first-quarter sales this year at 122 trillion won and operating profit at 38 trillion won. It raised its 2026 annual operating profit estimate to 229 trillion won.
Kim Rok-ho, an analyst at Hana Securities, said, "Because the rise in memory prices in the first quarter was larger than expected, there were concerns that from the second quarter, price resistance or order strength would weaken among B2C client companies," adding, "However, it is understood that the two leading companies in the smartphone industry are responding to cost burdens by expanding market share." The analysis is that memory price trends will remain solid in the second quarter, beyond what was initially expected.
With price increases centered on general DRAM, the magnitude of the upward earnings revision is significant, and competitiveness in high bandwidth memory (HBM) has also been proven, removing reasons for undervaluation.
Kim also said, "Considering this year's free cash flow (FCF), the resources available for shareholder returns are judged to be 92.5 trillion won." This is an increase of 389% from a year earlier.
Hana Securities analyzed that if the resources are calculated using last year's ratio between dividends and treasury stock (dividends 58% and treasury stock 42%), the dividend per share would be 8,029 won, up 381% from a year earlier, and the dividend yield (based on the Mar. 12 closing price) would reach 4.3%.
Considering the first-half treasury stock cancellation disclosed in the annual report, it explained that the dividend per share would be 8,135 won, up 388% from a year earlier, with the dividend yield unchanged at 4.3%.
Kim said, "Because there is also a high possibility that additional share buybacks and cancellations will proceed in parallel, the aforementioned dividend could decrease, but treasury stock cancellation is directly connected to raising shareholder value," adding, "In addition, there is potential for a separate value-up (corporate value enhancement) using treasury stock, so it is judged that earnings, valuation (corporate value), and momentum (upward drivers) have all been secured."