PRE-MARKET JAPANESE AND SOUTH KOREAN STOCKS NEWS: Earnings from Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix

Advantest (6857 JT) - Co. Q3 (JPY) net rose 105% Y/Y to 248.5bln, net sales rose 46.3% Y/Y to 800.5bln. (Advantest)

Fuji Media (4676 JT) - US activist investor Dalton Investments is to propose a 10% share buyback by Fuji Media. (Nikkei)

Nidec (6594 JT) - Co. submitted an improvement plan which targets governance, accounting, and culture, while it noted that its operations remain stable, while it is to delay the disclosure of its results. (Newswires)

Toyota Industries (6201 JT) - US activist investor Elliott Investment Management is considering whether to extend a tender offer for auto parts supplier Toyota Industries to counter the bid by the Toyota (7203 JT). (Nikkei)

Japan's ruling LDP could gain a majority of the 465 seats in the February 8th lower house election, up from 198, according to a new Nikkei poll, which was conducted immediately after the election announcement.

Japan and the US eye production of synthetic diamonds to kick off the USD 550bln investment plan. (Nikkei)

Hanwha Aerospace (012450 KS) - Co. won an estimated USD 1.9bln project to supply its K239 Chunmoo multiple rocket launcher systems to Norway. (Yonhap)

Samsung Electronics (005930 KS) - Co. Q4 (KRW) net rose 153.3% Y/Y to 19.64tln (exp. 18.6tln), oper. profit 20.1tln (prev. 6.49tln Y/Y), rev. rose 23.8% Y/Y to 93.8tln, FY net rose 31.2% Y/Y to 45.2tln, FY rev. rose 10.9% Y/Y to 333.6tln, Co. is to buyback KRW 3.57tln of shares and will dispose of KRW 1.1tln of shares. (Yonhap/Newswires)

SK Hynix (000660 KS) - Co. Q4 (KRW) operating profit 19.17tln (exp. 16.69tln), rev. 32.83tln (exp. 31.3tln), FY25 operating profit 47.2tln (exp. 46.0tln), FY25 rev. 97.1tln (exp. 96.6tln), Co. expects a considerable increase in capex during 2026 and sees server set growth in the high-teen percentages, Co. expects short-term shipment adjustments due to deteriorated consumer sentiment, while it is to launch a new US-based AI solution firm. (Yonhap)