KOSPISemiconductors003160

Di

₩42,600▲ 2.65%2026-10-02 close

Market Cap

₩1.2T

Turnover

₩54.5B

Volume

1.3M

Shares out.

28.3M

PER

29.1×

PBR

4.0×

EPS

₩1,073

Dividend Yield

0.80%

PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are calculated in-house from the last 4 quarters (2025Q3–2026Q2) · Dividend yield is based on ₩250 per share · Prices as of the 2026-10-02 close

Report overview

HBM4 Orders Expand, Earnings Leverage Emerges

D I Corp's operating profit has improved markedly on a quarterly basis as subsidiary Digital Frontier's HBM4 wafer testers secure orders from both SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics.

1
Operating profit and owner net income both rose sharply quarter-on-quarter in both the first and second quarters of 2026, extending a recovery trend.
2
In the fourth quarter of 2025, owner net income posted a large loss even though operating profit remained positive, highlighting volatility from one-off items.
3
Subsidiary Digital Frontier supplies HBM4/DDR5 wafer testers to SK Hynix, while the parent company supplies burn-in test equipment to Samsung Electronics, giving the group a dual customer structure.
4
The global wafer test equipment market is dominated by Advantest and Teradyne, while D I Corp and Digital Frontier have been expanding their position as domestic (localized) equipment vendors.
5
SK Hynix's back-end capacity expansion in Cheongju (P&T3 completed, P&T7 under pursuit) is cited as the backdrop for the medium-to-long-term order pipeline.

Business structure

Founded in 1961 and listed on the KOSPI in 1996, D I Corp is a semiconductor test equipment specialist whose parent operation develops and produces wafer memory testers (EDS inspection), burn-in testers, logic testers, and test boards (burn-in boards) in-house.

On a standalone basis, the company is an official vendor to Samsung Electronics, supplying burn-in test equipment for DRAM and NAND, and its consumable burn-in boards reportedly hold the top domestic market share.

Consolidated subsidiary Digital Frontier (DF) succeeded in localizing wafer test equipment and supplies next-generation memory test equipment including HBM and DDR5 testers to SK Hynix, positioning itself as a domestic alternative in a global wafer test equipment market otherwise dominated by Advantest of Japan and Teradyne of the United States.

As of the second quarter of 2025, the parent semiconductor equipment segment generated roughly 38.5 billion won in revenue while subsidiary Digital Frontier generated about 77.0 billion won on shipments of more than 40 units, with electronic components (about 3.1 billion won) and secondary battery equipment (about 3.8 billion won) contributing more stable, smaller revenue streams.

D I Corp expanded into secondary battery inspection equipment through its 2021 acquisition of V-Ten System, and it also operates environmental facility and audio-visual equipment businesses. The company has recently established a Vietnam subsidiary as part of its overseas expansion.

EDS inspection, which detects circuit defects at the wafer stage after front-end processing, and burn-in testing, which verifies stable device operation under extreme conditions, are considered essential back-end processes directly tied to customers' yield management.

Earnings trend

Quarterly revenue · Operating profit

₩119.3B₩12.2B25Q2₩109.1B₩10B25Q3₩93.9B₩4.3B25Q4₩105.7B₩18.9B26Q1₩168.6B₩39.6B26Q2

RevenueOperating profit

Annual revenue · Operating profit

₩231B₩11.2B2022₩214.5B₩6.1B2023₩214B₩3.1B2024₩432.3B₩36.5B2025

RevenueOperating profit

Quarterly results · Last 5 quarters
Quarter	Revenue	Operating profit	Op. margin
2025Q2	₩119.3B	₩12.2B	10.3%
2025Q3	₩109.1B	₩10B	9.2%
2025Q4	₩93.9B	₩4.3B	4.6%
2026Q1	₩105.7B	₩18.9B	17.9%
2026Q2	₩168.6B	₩39.6B	23.5%

Annual results
Year	Revenue	Operating profit	Net income (parent)	Op. margin	ROE	Debt-to-equity
2022	₩231B	₩11.2B	₩14.6B	4.8%	9.7%	68.1%
2023	₩214.5B	₩6.1B	₩3.2B	2.9%	2.1%	74.0%
2024	₩214B	₩3.1B	₩1.1B	1.4%	0.7%	90.5%
2025	₩432.3B	₩36.5B	₩5.1B	8.4%	3.1%	101.1%

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

Annual revenue was roughly flat at 231.0 billion won in 2022, 214.5 billion won in 2023, and 214.0 billion won in 2024, before nearly doubling to 432.3 billion won in 2025. Operating margin fell from 4.8% in 2022 to 2.9% in 2023 and 1.4% in 2024, then rebounded sharply to 8.4% in 2025, showing a clear margin recovery.

Owner net income, however, moved differently, declining from 14.6 billion won in 2022 to 3.15 billion won in 2023 and 1.10 billion won in 2024, before recovering to 5.10 billion won in 2025.

On a quarterly basis, operating profit was 12.25 billion won in the second quarter of 2025 and 10.01 billion won in the third quarter, before falling to 4.33 billion won in the fourth quarter; notably, owner net income for that fourth quarter was a loss of 11.17 billion won despite positive operating profit, indicating a significant one-off item below the operating line.

Performance then rebounded sharply, with first-quarter 2026 operating profit reaching 18.87 billion won and owner net income 11.03 billion won, followed by a further jump in the second quarter to 39.59 billion won in operating profit and 23.87 billion won in owner net income.

As a result, owner net income summed over the most recent four quarters (third quarter 2025 through second quarter 2026) reached 29.18 billion won, with strong first-half 2026 results largely offsetting the fourth-quarter 2025 loss.

Operating margins in the first and second quarters of 2026 calculate to roughly 17.8% and 23.5%, respectively, a pattern attributed to a rising share of HBM-related test equipment sales at subsidiary Digital Frontier combined with production efficiency gains.

Operating cash flow also improved markedly, reaching 49.03 billion won in 2025 versus negative 14.93 billion won in 2024.

Industry analysis

The back-end semiconductor test equipment market is viewed as being in a structural growth phase tied to rising HBM demand driven by the spread of AI servers.

The generational shift to HBM4 involves higher stack counts and greater interface complexity, increasing the importance of wafer burn-in and core testing and creating new demand for test equipment makers.

The global wafer test equipment market is split between Advantest of Japan and Teradyne of the United States, and D I Corp's subsidiary Digital Frontier has built a position as a localized alternative through its supply relationship with SK Hynix.

SK Hynix continues to expand its dedicated back-end fabs within the Cheongju Techno Polis industrial complex; following the recent addition of two floors at Cheongju P&T3, the company is reportedly pursuing a new advanced packaging fab called P&T7, with total related investment estimated at roughly 19 trillion won.

Upon completion, SK Hynix would operate a total of seven P&T facilities, a mid-to-long-term investment aimed at expanding AI memory back-end processing capacity, including HBM.

Samsung Electronics has also continued placing test equipment orders, including through its Suzhou, China subsidiary, meaning D I Corp maintains a customer base spanning both major domestic memory makers.

However, the test equipment market is characterized by revenue recognition that can swing significantly by quarter depending on customers' investment cycles and order timing, and individual companies' results are not immune to this volatility.

Outlook

In January and March 2026, the company signed two separate HBM4 wafer tester supply contracts with SK Hynix, valued at approximately 99.8 billion won (disclosed January 20, contract period January 29 to June 30, 2026) and approximately 96.3 billion won (March), for a combined total of about 196.0 billion won.

With Samsung Electronics, the company signed a 19.19 billion won contract with the Suzhou, China subsidiary last November and a 16.92 billion won domestic contract in July of this year (contract period July 1 to December 31, 2026), indicating continued order flow.

Hana Securities, in a January 13, 2026 report, forecast 2026 consolidated revenue of 490.6 billion won (up 15.5% year-on-year) and operating profit of 70.4 billion won (up 97.2%), based on an expected margin leverage effect from cost improvements and productivity gains.

Subsequently, Hyundai Motor Securities, in a May 14, 2026 report, estimated 2026 revenue of 582.3 billion won (up 35.9%) and operating profit of 98.7 billion won (up 170.3%), projecting that consolidated operating margin would rise from 8.4% in 2025 to 16.8% in 2026, and issued a buy rating with a target price of 44,000 won.

That report also projected that combined equipment shipments from D I Corp and Digital Frontier would rise from 282 units in 2025 to over 400 units in 2026.

The next earnings release is reportedly scheduled for mid-November 2026, with the pace of revenue recognition from Samsung Electronics orders and the possibility of additional SK Hynix orders cited as key items to watch in the third-quarter results.

Valuation

PER

29.1×

PBR

4.0×

ROE

15.6%

EPS

₩1,073

BPS

₩7,844

Dividend per share

₩250

D I Corp's share price appears to have been re-rated as earnings recovered from a weak period in 2024 into stronger results from 2025 onward, and the multiple at which the stock currently trades is assessed to be near the upper end of the valuation band formed over the past several years.

The stock also trades at a considerable premium to net asset value, suggesting the market has priced in a meaningful degree of expected future HBM4-related revenue growth and margin improvement.

On the dividend front, the company has paid cash dividends for eleven consecutive years and canceled 10% of its treasury shares at the end of 2022 as part of an ongoing shareholder return policy, though the dividend yield itself remains on the lower side given the sector's growth-stock characteristics.

It is also worth noting that brokerage earnings forecasts vary widely; even for the same business, 2026 operating profit estimates across different institutions differ by more than 40%, leaving a broad spectrum of valuation interpretations.

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

Expanding HBM4 Vendor Position

Subsidiary Digital Frontier secured two separate SK Hynix supply contracts for HBM4 wafer testers in 2026, totaling roughly 196.0 billion won, expanding its position in the next-generation memory test equipment market.

In a global market otherwise dominated by Advantest and Teradyne, the company's accumulated reference base within SK Hynix as a localized alternative underpins its competitiveness.

Continued contracts with Samsung Electronics domestically and through its Suzhou, China subsidiary further indicate customer diversification.

Confirmed Margin Leverage

Operating margin rose from 1.4% in 2024 to 8.4% in 2025, and calculates to roughly 17.8% in the first quarter and 23.5% in the second quarter of 2026, reflecting a growing share of higher value-added HBM-related products and production efficiency gains.

Brokerages expect this margin improvement to continue through 2026. Cost allocation efficiency tied to expanding revenue scale is also reported to be progressing in tandem.

Back-End Capacity Expansion Pipeline

The completion of SK Hynix's Cheongju P&T3 expansion and its pursuit of a new P&T7 facility, with total related investment estimated at roughly 19 trillion won, is cited as a backdrop for potential medium-to-long-term growth in back-end test equipment demand.

As SK Hynix would operate a total of seven P&T facilities upon completion, there is discussion that D I Corp and Digital Frontier could participate as partners in this new investment phase given their existing collaboration. It should be noted, however, that this remains a planning-stage investment that has not yet been finalized.

Bear factors

Customer Concentration and Order Volatility

D I Corp's revenue structure is heavily dependent on the order timing and volume of two customers, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics; in the fourth quarter of 2025, owner net income posted a large loss of 11.17 billion won even though operating profit remained positive.

Changes in a given customer's investment plans or order delays could increase quarterly earnings volatility. A pattern of subsidiary Digital Frontier's shipment volumes concentrating in specific quarters has also recurred in the past.

Scale Disadvantage Versus Global Peers

The global wafer test equipment market remains split between Advantest and Teradyne, leaving D I Corp and Digital Frontier in a relatively smaller position as a localized alternative.

The possibility that a customer could shift volume back to established large suppliers for a given generation, or that new domestic competitors could emerge, cannot be ruled out. There is also an ongoing burden to continually pass quality certification as technical difficulty increases in generations beyond HBM4.

Financial and One-Off Earnings Volatility

As seen in the fourth quarter of 2025, when operating profit and owner net income moved in opposite directions, there remains a need to account for the possibility of results being affected by non-operating factors such as tax or valuation gains and losses.

The debt ratio rose from 68.1% in 2022 to 101.1% in 2025, a change in financial structure that also warrants monitoring. The wide dispersion in brokerage earnings estimates further indicates that earnings uncertainty has not been fully resolved.

Risk factors

Customer and Order Concentration Risk

A significant portion of revenue depends on individual supply contracts with two customers, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, so a failure to renew contracts or delays in orders could directly affect results.

Changes in a major customer's investment priorities or inventory policy are also variables that could affect order timing. The tendency for subsidiary Digital Frontier's shipment volumes to concentrate in specific quarters could recur going forward.

Technology and Competitive Intensity Risk

As HBM generations advance, both testing difficulty and thermal management requirements rise in tandem, meaning whether quality certification is passed determines the timing of revenue recognition.

Ongoing technology and price competition with large global players such as Advantest and Teradyne is also a persistent variable. There have been past instances in which a defect in specific equipment led to delays in re-certification.

Financial Structure and One-Off Earnings Risk

With the debt ratio rising from 68.1% in 2022 to 101.1% in 2025, the possibility of a recurrence of one-off earnings volatility—such as the fourth quarter of 2025, when operating profit and net income moved in opposite directions—cannot be ruled out. Such volatility makes quarterly results more difficult to predict.

Funding needs tied to new investments, including capacity expansion and overseas subsidiary establishment, also warrant attention.

What to watch next

Mid-November 2026
Third-quarter results are scheduled for release, providing a chance to check the pace of revenue recognition from the July Samsung Electronics contract (16.92 billion won, running through year-end) and subsidiary Digital Frontier's shipment trends.
During the fourth quarter of 2026
It will be worth checking whether additional SK Hynix HBM4-related order disclosures emerge and whether follow-on volume from the Samsung Electronics contract expands.
Second half of 2026 through early 2027
This period will show whether SK Hynix finalizes its planned P&T7 facility investment in Cheongju and whether D I Corp and Digital Frontier participate in any resulting orders.

Overall view

D I Corp has shown a clear earnings recovery from weak margins through 2024, driven from 2025 onward primarily by subsidiary Digital Frontier's supply of HBM4 and DDR5 wafer testers.

Operating profit and owner net income both rose sharply quarter-on-quarter in both the first and second quarters of 2026, yet the preceding fourth quarter of 2025 saw a large net loss despite positive operating profit, underscoring substantial quarterly volatility.

The business remains heavily dependent on orders from two customers, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, and with the global market still split between Advantest and Teradyne, D I Corp and Digital Frontier appear to be in an early phase of expanding their position as a localized alternative.

Brokerages differ meaningfully in the scale of growth they project for 2026, and whether margin leverage persists, along with any follow-on orders tied to SK Hynix's back-end capacity expansion (P&T7), are cited as key variables that will shape the earnings trajectory ahead.

The company's dividend record—eleven consecutive years of payments and a prior treasury share cancellation—reflects an ongoing shareholder return policy, though its continuation will likely hinge on future earnings stability.

Ahead of any investment decision, it will be important to monitor the upcoming third-quarter results and any additional order disclosures to assess whether the recent earnings recovery represents a structural shift.

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.