Samsung Electronics Co. saw its retail shareholder base shrink by nearly one million over the past year as individual investors cashed out gains following a stock price recovery.
According to a business report disclosed by Samsung Electronics on the 10th, the company had 4,195,927 retail shareholders as of the end of December last year. This represents a decrease of 964,000 from 5,160,210 at the end of 2024.
Shares held by retail investors also declined by approximately 81.96 million, from 4,073,349,914 shares at the end of 2024 to 3,991,480,867 shares at the end of 2025. The retail ownership ratio fell 2.19 percentage points to 66.04% from 68.23% of total issued shares.
The exodus is attributed to individual investors taking profits after the stock reversed its 2024 decline and turned upward last year.
Samsung Electronics common shares averaged 84,383 won in July 2024 before sliding to 54,035 won by December. In contrast, the average price climbed to 65,087 won in July 2025 and continued rising to 108,724 won by December.
The December 2025 high of 119,900 won more than doubled the December 2024 peak of 56,100 won.
Samsung Electronics has also strengthened shareholder value initiatives through stock buybacks and cancellations. The company announced a 10 trillion won share repurchase plan in November 2024 and subsequently cancelled 3 trillion won worth of treasury shares acquired in the first tranche last February.
As of the end of 2025, Samsung Electronics holds 105.43 million treasury shares, with plans to cancel approximately 87 million shares in the first half of this year. Based on the closing price of approximately 190,000 won, the cancellation represents about 16 trillion won in value.