KOSPIHolding Companies001040

CJ

₩131,300▼ 0.23%2026-10-02 close

Market Cap

₩3.8T

Turnover

₩6.3B

Volume

50,000 shares

Shares out.

29.2M

PER

94.1×

PBR

0.7×

EPS

₩1,397

Dividend Yield

2.51%

PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are calculated in-house from the last 4 quarters (2025Q3–2026Q2) · Dividend yield is based on ₩3,300 per share · Prices as of the 2026-10-02 close

Report overview

Records at Unlisted Units, Pressure at Listed Ones

CJ Corp sits in a phase where unlisted affiliates such as CJ Olive Young and CJ Foodville keep setting quarterly revenue records while earnings at its core listed subsidiaries decline, compressing both the consolidated operating margin and profit attributable to owners.

1
In 2025 consolidated revenue reached KRW 45.02tn with operating profit of KRW 2.53tn; the top line grew for a fourth straight year, but the operating margin slipped to 5.6% from 5.8%.
2
Second-quarter 2026 revenue rose to KRW 11.53tn from KRW 11.12tn a year earlier, but operating profit of KRW 531.8bn and owners' net profit of KRW 61.5bn both fell.
3
CJ CheilJedang's overseas food sales rose 10.1% to KRW 1.51tn in Q2 2026, yet food-segment operating profit fell 21.3% on a strong dollar and raw-material costs (company release, Aug 11, 2026).
4
Unlisted flagship CJ Olive Young posted a record quarterly revenue of KRW 1.80tn in Q2 2026, and CJ Foodville also set a quarterly record on the back of 205 bakery stores in the United States (BNK Investment Securities, Sep 1, 2026).
5
Under the revised Commercial Act effective Mar 6, 2026, previously held treasury shares must be cancelled, or covered by a shareholder-approved plan, within 18 months of that date, putting CJ's 7.3% and Olive Young's 22.6% treasury stakes in focus.

Business structure

CJ Corp, founded in 1953, is a holding company with stakes in eight subsidiaries spanning four pillars: food and food service, biotechnology, logistics and new distribution, and entertainment and media (FnGuide company profile).

Most consolidated revenue comes from CJ CheilJedang and CJ Logistics; CJ CheilJedang reported Q2 2026 consolidated revenue of KRW 7.36tn including CJ Logistics (company release, Aug 11, 2026).

From Q3 2026 CJ CheilJedang is reorganising its former food and bio split into three units, lifestyle food, technology materials and core materials, to consolidate raw-material sourcing and strategy execution.

CJ Logistics disclosed Q2 2026 revenue of KRW 3.38tn and operating profit of KRW 101.6bn, with the O-NE parcel unit at KRW 984.8bn and the global unit at KRW 1.21tn.

CJ ENM posted Q2 2026 consolidated revenue of KRW 1.20tn and operating profit of KRW 33.4bn, with the media platform unit swinging to profit and commerce (CJ ONSTYLE) revenue at KRW 402.8bn.

On the unlisted side, CJ Olive Young, the leading domestic health-and-beauty retailer, generated KRW 1.80tn of revenue in Q2 2026 with offline sales up 23% and online up 25% (BNK Investment Securities, Sep 1, 2026).

CJ holds 51.15% of Olive Young as its largest shareholder, and its voting-based stake was reported to have risen to 66.06% after financial investors exited.

On the balance sheet, of KRW 17.02tn of consolidated equity at end-2025, KRW 5.21tn belonged to owners and KRW 11.81tn to non-controlling interests, a classic holding-company structure in which much of consolidated earnings accrues to minorities.

Competition is formed at the subsidiary level, against Daesang and Ottogi in food, Hanjin and Lotte Global Logistics in logistics, and domestic and global streaming and broadcast players in media.

Earnings trend

Quarterly revenue · Operating profit

₩11.1T₩614.8B25Q2₩11.4T₩665.7B25Q3₩11.9T₩712.3B25Q4₩11.5T₩460.7B26Q1₩11.5T₩531.8B26Q2

RevenueOperating profit

Annual revenue · Operating profit

₩40.9T₩2.2T2022₩41.4T₩2T2023₩43.6T₩2.5T2024₩45T₩2.5T2025

RevenueOperating profit

Quarterly results · Last 5 quarters
Quarter	Revenue	Operating profit	Op. margin
2025Q2	₩11.1T	₩614.8B	5.5%
2025Q3	₩11.4T	₩665.7B	5.8%
2025Q4	₩11.9T	₩712.3B	6.0%
2026Q1	₩11.5T	₩460.7B	4.0%
2026Q2	₩11.5T	₩531.8B	4.6%

Annual results
Year	Revenue	Operating profit	Net income (parent)	Op. margin	ROE	Debt-to-equity
2022	₩40.9T	₩2.2T	₩202.1B	5.3%	3.9%	172.0%
2023	₩41.4T	₩2T	₩194.8B	4.9%	3.5%	163.8%
2024	₩43.6T	₩2.5T	₩100.5B	5.8%	1.8%	167.6%
2025	₩45T	₩2.5T	₩143.3B	5.6%	2.8%	176.0%

Consolidated basis (financial statements including subsidiaries) · Final figures from DART filings · Net income attributable to owners of the parent · Data as of 2026-09-04

Earnings analysis

On an annual basis, revenue rose steadily from KRW 40.92tn in 2022 to KRW 41.35tn in 2023, KRW 43.65tn in 2024 and KRW 45.02tn in 2025.

Operating profit dipped from KRW 2.15tn in 2022 to KRW 2.04tn in 2023 before recovering to KRW 2.55tn in 2024 and KRW 2.53tn in 2025, with the operating margin tracing 4.9% in 2023, 5.8% in 2024 and 5.6% in 2025.

Profit attributable to owners, however, was small relative to operating profit and volatile: KRW 202.1bn in 2022, KRW 194.8bn in 2023, KRW 100.5bn in 2024 and KRW 143.3bn in 2025.

That reflects a structure in which roughly two thirds of consolidated equity belongs to non-controlling interests, plus the swing from equity-method, financial and valuation items below the operating line. The quarterly path is clearer.

Revenue held a gentle uptrend in the KRW 11tn range, from KRW 11.12tn in Q2 2025 to KRW 11.43tn in Q3, KRW 11.87tn in Q4, KRW 11.45tn in Q1 2026 and KRW 11.53tn in Q2 2026.

Operating profit, though, peaked at KRW 712.3bn in Q4 2025 (a 6.0% margin) and eased to KRW 460.7bn in Q1 2026 (4.0%) and KRW 531.8bn in Q2 2026 (4.6%), the latter below the KRW 614.8bn of a year earlier.

Owners' net profit swung to a loss of KRW 233.7bn in Q4 2025 before returning to KRW 75.7bn in Q1 2026 and KRW 61.5bn in Q2 2026, leaving the sum for the latest four quarters (Q3 2025 to Q2 2026) at only about KRW 47.0bn.

At the subsidiary level the drivers cited include lower selling prices in CJ CheilJedang's domestic food-ingredient business, currency, raw-material and oil-price costs, and intensified competition in bio tryptophan; CJ CheilJedang itself reported a Q2 2026 net loss of KRW 23.9bn on foreign-exchange and derivative valuation losses tied to the currency and grain prices.

Cash generation was comparatively steady, with operating cash flow rising from KRW 4.83tn in 2024 to KRW 4.99tn in 2025, while the debt-to-equity ratio increased from 167.6% to 176.0%.

Industry analysis

CJ's end markets are not one but several, food, bio, logistics, media and beauty retail, each sitting at a different point in its own cycle.

In food, overseas demand for Korean products is expanding: CJ CheilJedang's Q2 2026 overseas food sales grew 10% in the Americas, 19% in Europe, 21% in Asia-Pacific and 5% in China, while domestic food ingredients contracted 2.4% amid weak local consumption.

In bio, United States and European tariffs on Chinese lysine lifted both volumes and prices, with reports that lysine prices rose 16% quarter on quarter in China and 12% in Europe (Newspim, Aug 12, 2026).

High-margin tryptophan, however, faces intensified competition in both price and volume, and the company is responding by raising the specialty mix, which reached 18% in Q2 2026.

Logistics volumes are favourable, with CJ Logistics parcel volume up 12.1% year on year and dawn and same-day deliveries surging 65%, yet service-upgrade investment and higher operating costs weighed on margins.

Media is in transition as traditional TV advertising shrinks and streaming grows: TVING revenue rose 41.4% year on year with advertising up 52%, while TV advertising revenue fell 20.9%.

In beauty retail, rising inbound tourism and new United States stores leave Olive Young in the early phase of overseas expansion while holding the top domestic position.

From a holding-company perspective, growth assets such as beauty retail, overseas food and streaming are therefore offset within the same portfolio by cost- and competition-pressured assets such as domestic food ingredients, commodity amino acids and TV advertising.

Outlook

On confirmed company plans, CJ CheilJedang said it will implement its three-unit reorganisation into lifestyle food, technology materials and core materials from Q3 2026, focusing on expanding global strategic products such as dumplings and Hetbahn rice and on cutting manufacturing and fixed costs.

The company guided to double-digit revenue growth and an operating margin in the mid-to-high 4% range in Q3, excluding CJ Logistics (company release, August 2026).

Domestically it plans to defend profitability through a shift to higher-margin categories and cost reduction, while pushing dumplings and rice in the Americas and mainstream store expansion plus new launches in Europe.

CJ ENM guided to more than 30% sequential improvement in second-half TV advertising and roughly 26% year-on-year growth in sponsorship revenue, and said TVING profitability in Q3 could be slightly below Q2 on seasonal ad weakness and content costs, with the KBO postseason expected to help in Q4 (earnings release, August 2026).

CJ Logistics continues to invest in service upgrades such as flexible hub-terminal operations, so volume growth and cost pressure may persist together.

Among unlisted units, the ramp-up of Olive Young's western United States distribution centre, local store expansion, the Sephora partnership and CJ Foodville's United States bakery openings remain earnings variables.

At the holding-company level, the treatment of treasury shares under the revised Commercial Act and whether a new shareholder-return framework follows the policy targeting at least 70% of separate-basis net profit for fiscal 2023 to 2025 are the items to watch.

Valuation

PER

94.1×

PBR

0.7×

ROE

0.9%

EPS

₩1,397

BPS

₩186,453

Dividend per share

₩3,300

Because owners' net profit was heavily depressed by the large loss in Q4 2025, the earnings-based multiple sits far above the upper end of the range in which Korean holding companies have typically traded.

The asset-based multiple, by contrast, is well below one times net assets, so profit and asset yardsticks point in opposite directions (and since in-house calculations differ from the Korea Exchange's published figures, the basis needs checking).

Dividends rest on CJ's stated policy of targeting at least 70% of separate-basis net profit excluding one-offs for fiscal 2023 to 2025, and BNK Investment Securities said in a Sep 1, 2026 report that 2026 shareholder returns are likely to be at best flat to slightly higher than the prior year.

The same report valued CJ's unlisted subsidiary stakes at about KRW 5tn versus a little over KRW 2tn for listed stakes, maintained a Buy rating and stated that it had cut its target price significantly.

Earlier, Hana Securities said in a May 18, 2026 report that it was maintaining a Buy rating and a target price of KRW 240,000.

Ultimately the valuation debate centres on how to treat the gap between asset value in growing unlisted units and the earnings trend at core listed units, and that judgement will differ by investor.

PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are all calculated in-house (the same method as Naver and Toss) · Dividend yield = cash dividend per share from DART filings (supplemented by KRX) ÷ current price · As of 2026-09-04

Bull factors

Growing earnings contribution from unlisted units

CJ Olive Young posted a record quarterly revenue of KRW 1.80tn in Q2 2026, with offline sales up 23% and online up 25% (BNK Investment Securities, Sep 1, 2026). CJ Foodville also set a quarterly revenue record on United States bakery expansion, with local store count rising to 205 at the end of Q2.

The same report read the record revenue despite fewer stores as evidence of efficient store operations and projected net-margin improvement once early-stage new-business costs fade. From a holding-company standpoint, these earnings accrue to CJ's net asset value rather than being dispersed into the listed market.

Room for improvement in overseas food and lysine

CJ CheilJedang's overseas food revenue rose 10.1% to KRW 1.51tn in Q2 2026, led by 19% growth in Europe and 21% in Asia-Pacific. In bio, United States and European tariffs on Chinese lysine lifted both volumes and prices, and the company said operating profit rose KRW 85.5bn quarter on quarter, continuing a recovery.

Management guided to a mid-to-high 4% operating margin in Q3 excluding CJ Logistics, leaving room for margin improvement if manufacturing and fixed-cost reductions are executed. The specialty mix reaching 18% in Q2 2026 is another shift in product composition.

A verifiable timetable created by regulation

The revised Commercial Act, passed on Feb 25, 2026 and effective Mar 6, requires treasury shares to be cancelled within one year of acquisition in principle, with an 18-month deadline from the effective date for previously held shares.

Retaining or disposing of them instead requires a plan approved at a shareholder meeting. Analysts have flagged CJ's 7.3% treasury stake and CJ Olive Young's 22.6% as falling under this deadline (iM Securities, Dec 29, 2025).

The outcome cannot be assumed, but unlike before, there is now a timetable investors can verify through disclosures.

Bear factors

Downtrend in consolidated earnings

Consolidated operating profit fell from KRW 712.3bn in Q4 2025 to KRW 460.7bn in Q1 2026 and KRW 531.8bn in Q2, with the margin sliding from 6.0% to 4.0% and 4.6%.

Q2 2026 operating profit was below the KRW 614.8bn of a year earlier, marking a second straight quarter in which revenue growth did not translate into profit.

Hana Securities said in a May 18, 2026 report that first-quarter revenue beat consensus while operating profit missed sharply, and that most affiliates saw profitability deteriorate despite solid sales. With costs, currency and oil prices acting at once, whether the direction changes soon requires verification.

Drag from listed subsidiary values

BNK Investment Securities said in a Sep 1, 2026 report that CJ's unlisted subsidiary stakes are worth about KRW 5tn against a little over KRW 2tn for listed stakes, and that an investment climate neglecting core industries plus falling listed-subsidiary values were the root causes of share-price weakness.

The same report noted that the largest influence on holding-company value is the value of core subsidiaries, and that the current inflection point is an earnings recovery at CJ CheilJedang.

Because holding-company stake values are directly linked to subsidiary share prices, the earnings and price trends of listed units can constrain the holding company's assessment. The report's argument is that growth in unlisted units alone is unlikely to offset this.

Thin owners' earnings and leverage

Of 2025 consolidated net profit, only KRW 143.3bn was attributable to owners, very small relative to KRW 2.53tn of operating profit. Of KRW 17.02tn of consolidated equity at end-2025, just KRW 5.21tn belonged to owners against KRW 11.81tn for non-controlling interests.

Total liabilities stood at KRW 29.95tn and the debt-to-equity ratio at 176.0%, up from 167.6% in 2024. In such a structure, swings in subsidiary operations can be amplified in the holding company's owners' net profit, as seen in the KRW 233.7bn net loss in Q4 2025.

Risk factors

Costs and currency

CJ CheilJedang attributed weaker Q2 2026 profitability to a strong dollar, higher raw and subsidiary material prices and rising international oil prices. Foreign-exchange and derivative valuation losses linked to currency and grain prices then produced a net loss of KRW 23.9bn.

Because both food and bio rely heavily on imported inputs, adverse moves in currency and grain prices can hit margins and non-operating items at the same time. Domestic food ingredients contracted 2.4% on lower selling prices and weak soybean-meal markets.

Competition and policy variables

In bio, high-margin tryptophan saw both volumes and prices fall on intensified competition, a profitability drag the company cited directly.

The Q2 2026 improvement in lysine owed much to an external policy factor, United States and European tariffs on Chinese lysine, and that windfall could reverse if the tariff environment changes.

In media, TV advertising revenue fell 20.9% and the company expects Fifth Season's content delivery gap to persist into the second half. In logistics, a slowdown in forwarding conditions was noted.

Uncertainty around governance restructuring

With tighter rules on duplicate listings reducing the likelihood of an initial public offering for CJ Olive Young, the market has discussed scenarios such as a merger with the holding company or a stake reshuffle.

CJ, however, has repeatedly told the press that it has not reviewed such steps, including an Olive Young listing. Academics and industry observers note that the larger Olive Young's value grows, the more contentious any future merger exchange ratio could become, making the terms decisive for minority shareholders.

Until formally disclosed, any such route remains only a scenario, so assessments should rest on confirmed filings.

What to watch next

Mid-October 2026
This is when the third-quarter earnings flow at CJ CheilJedang, CJ Logistics and CJ ENM comes into view. Whether CJ CheilJedang meets its guidance of double-digit revenue growth and a mid-to-high 4% operating margin excluding CJ Logistics will shape the direction of the holding company's consolidated margin.
November 2026
CJ's consolidated third-quarter filing will show whether the operating-profit decline of the first two quarters of 2026 continues and whether owners' net profit recovers. The contribution of non-operating items such as foreign exchange, derivatives and equity-method results is also worth checking.
Fourth quarter of 2026
Ahead of the revised Commercial Act's deadline for previously held treasury shares, 18 months from the Mar 6, 2026 effective date, watch for board resolutions or filings on cancelling CJ's 7.3% treasury stake or on a retention and disposal plan. The treatment of Olive Young's 22.6% treasury stake is also worth monitoring.
February 2027
Alongside full-year 2026 results, this is when to check whether a new shareholder-return framework follows the policy of paying out at least 70% of separate-basis net profit for fiscal 2023 to 2025. BNK Investment Securities said in a Sep 1, 2026 report that 2026 returns were likely to be flat to only slightly higher than the prior year.
March 2027 annual general meeting
Watch whether a treasury-share retention and disposal plan is tabled, and whether an articles-of-incorporation amendment providing grounds for retention on business purposes accompanies it. Since rejection would leave the one-year cancellation principle in force, the composition of the agenda itself is informative.

Overall view

CJ's recent results present a split picture between scale and profit.

Consolidated revenue grew from KRW 40.92tn in 2022 to KRW 45.02tn in 2025 and quarterly revenue is holding in the KRW 11tn range, yet the operating margin slipped from 5.6% in 2025 to 4.0% in Q1 2026 and 4.6% in Q2, while owners' net profit, after a KRW 233.7bn loss in Q4 2025, has stayed in the tens of billions of won per quarter.

At the subsidiary level, unlisted units are setting records, with Olive Young at KRW 1.80tn of Q2 2026 revenue and Foodville at 205 United States stores, while core listed subsidiaries are seeing profit decline despite revenue growth on cost, currency and competitive pressure.

On the regulatory side, the revised Commercial Act effective March 2026 has set a deadline for handling treasury shares at both CJ and Olive Young, and tighter duplicate-listing rules have shifted discussion from an Olive Young listing toward structural change with the holding company, though the company denies reviewing such steps.

Valuation currently has profit and asset yardsticks pointing in opposite directions, and brokerage views are being adjusted, with BNK Investment Securities cutting its target price to KRW 180,000 from KRW 280,000 on Sep 1, 2026 while maintaining a Buy rating.

The checklist is therefore clear: whether core listed subsidiaries recover profit, how treasury shares and a new shareholder-return framework are handled, and how much of the unlisted units' growth reaches holding-company cash flow. This report is for information purposes and contains no buy or sell recommendation.

Sources

Korea Exchange (KRX) — Prices · Market Cap · Volume
FSS electronic disclosure system (DART) — Financial statements · Dividend filings

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Report written 2026-09-05 · Data as of 2026-09-04

This content is AI analysis of market data and web search results, provided for information only. It is not a solicitation or recommendation to invest. Investment decisions and their consequences are the investor's own responsibility. Data may be delayed or contain errors.