“Buyback and cancellation of 150 billion won worth of treasury shares” ... Kakao makes bold move as shares fall below 30,000 won [Stock NOW]

[Financial News] Kakao shares are surging early in trading on the 5th after the company announced plans to buy back its own shares and cancel all of them. 
As of 9:30 a.m. today, Kakao was trading at 32,050 won on the KOSPI market, up 2,950 won (10.14%) from the previous trading day.
Before the regular session opened, Kakao disclosed a decision to acquire 5,154,639 common shares (worth approximately 150 billion won based on the previous day's closing price) through on-market purchases from the 6th through February 5 next year.
The shares it buys back are to be canceled immediately. Shina Chung, Kakao's CEO, said during the company's third-quarter 2026 earnings conference call held this morning, “We have decided to buy back 150 billion won worth of treasury shares and cancel them immediately.”
This appears to be a move to boost the company's undervalued value ahead of the spin-off and return value to shareholders. 
Kakao also disclosed consolidated third-quarter revenue of 2.0867 trillion won and operating profit of 240.2 billion won. Operating profit rose 15.5% year over year.
Kakao, which has been overlooked by the market, appears to be attracting buying interest as the share buyback and cancellation coincides with an uptrend in earnings. 
Kakao plans to split the company next year into Kakao AI and Kakao X (the surviving entity), following an extraordinary shareholders' meeting in December.
[email protected] Joo Won-gyu Reporter