Cosmo Advanced Materials & Technology

Cosmo AM&T is a materials maker whose core products are cathode active materials for secondary batteries, release film for multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs), and toner.

It originally grew on functional film and toner materials, then expanded cathode active materials in step with the EV market and transformed itself into a battery materials company.

Its output scale is smaller than that of larger cathode peers such as EcoPro BM, POSCO Future M and L&F, but it is seen as having pursued differentiation around single-crystal high-nickel cathodes.

Single-crystal structures suffer fewer particle cracks and offer better thermal stability than polycrystalline material, supporting battery life and safety, and the industry expects their importance to grow as nickel content rises.

Its customer base is concentrated among large domestic cell and materials groups: after entering the Samsung SDI and LG Chem supply chains, revenue grew alongside high-nickel cathode demand, and IBK Securities estimated in a November 2025 report that as of Q3 2025 the cathode sales mix by customer was roughly 80% Samsung SDI and 20% LG Energy Solution.

On the other pillar, release film, demand for high-end industrial and automotive MLCCs has expanded rapidly with the AI industry, driving steady growth since 2022, and functional film revenue in 2025 was reported by thebell at KRW 115.2 billion versus KRW 114.3 billion a year earlier.

On product strategy, the company previously concluded after a feasibility review that it would concentrate on NCM-family chemistries such as NCMA, though more recent reporting indicates it is also studying entry into lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathodes.

Production is centered on the Chungju cathode plant and an Ulsan precursor plant: a KRW 234 billion investment completed a cathode plant expansion at the end of 2024, laying the base to scale from about 20,000 tons to 100,000 tons per year, while a KRW 16 billion NCM precursor plant began trial mass production in early 2025.

According to IBK Securities material from May 2026, Cosmo Chemical and seven related parties hold 30.80% and foreign ownership stands near 6.0%.

The annual trajectory mirrors the EV demand slowdown. Consolidated revenue rose from KRW 485.6 billion in 2022 to KRW 629.5 billion in 2023, then fell for two straight years to KRW 569.7 billion in 2024 and KRW 456.2 billion in 2025.

Margin erosion was sharper: operating profit went from KRW 32.4 billion in 2022 (6.7% margin) and KRW 32.3 billion in 2023 (5.1%) to KRW 25.0 billion in 2024 (4.4%) and just KRW 2.3 billion in 2025 (0.5%), while net profit attributable to owners fell from KRW 27.6 billion in 2022, KRW 27.0 billion in 2023 and KRW 17.6 billion in 2024 to a net loss of KRW 0.5 billion in 2025.

Industry analysis attributed this to slower cathode shipments amid a prolonged EV demand lull and customer inventory adjustments, compounded by fixed-cost burdens following aggressive capacity expansion. On a quarterly basis, the trough looks to have passed.

Revenue bottomed at KRW 120.1 billion in Q2 2025 and KRW 105.2 billion in Q3 2025, then rose for three consecutive quarters to KRW 117.0 billion, KRW 122.7 billion and KRW 137.6 billion in Q2 2026, while operating profit moved from KRW 0.5 billion, KRW 0.1 billion, KRW 0.7 billion and KRW 0.9 billion to KRW 4.6 billion in Q2 2026.

The company said stable orders for MLCC release film, supported by a healthy AI and semiconductor cycle, acted as a backbone for group earnings, while the cathode business entered a genuine recovery phase as plant utilization improved quarter on quarter. A gap between operating and net results nonetheless remains.

Net profit attributable to owners was a loss of KRW 2.6 billion in Q3 2025, KRW 2.1 billion in Q4 2025 and KRW 3.6 billion in Q1 2026 before a KRW 1.2 billion profit in Q2 2026; summed across the latest four quarters the bottom line is still negative, implying non-operating costs exceeding operating profit.

Cash generation, by contrast, improved: operating cash flow swung from an outflow of KRW 28.9 billion in 2023 to inflows of KRW 9.1 billion in 2024 and KRW 138.2 billion in 2025, and the debt-to-equity ratio eased from 79.7% in 2022 to 45.1% in 2025.

The cathode industry sits in the late stage of an EV demand lull, where the key question is whether profitability recovers.

Just as Cosmo AM&T's consolidated revenue jumped from KRW 204.3 billion in 2020 to KRW 305.9 billion in 2021, KRW 485.6 billion in 2022 and KRW 629.5 billion in 2023, the sector grew rapidly, but slowing EV demand and customer inventory adjustments cut shipments while expansion-driven fixed costs rose, pushing the whole cathode industry into a margin downturn.

Energy storage is the new demand variable. AI data center investment and power infrastructure buildouts, led by the United States, are lifting ESS demand quickly, and efforts to reduce reliance on Chinese batteries are cited as an opportunity for Korean materials makers. The picture is not one-sided, however.

Global metal price volatility, aggressive low-price competition from Chinese suppliers, and whether utilization normalizes after further expansion are flagged as burdens.

In product terms, rising LFP penetration remains a structural variable for ternary cathode demand; the company previously chose to concentrate on NCM and has more recently been studying LFP.

Cosmo AM&T's position leans toward specification differentiation rather than scale, securing volume through single-crystal and high-nickel specs and qualification into new customer programs instead of head-on competition with the three largest players.

Meanwhile MLCC release film is tied to the AI and semiconductor cycle rather than the battery cycle, partly offsetting group earnings volatility.

Management's stated direction is cathode normalization in the second half. A company official said Q2 2026 combined operating profit growth with a 26th consecutive profitable quarter, and that with cathode utilization returning to normal the firm would pursue an aggressive market approach in the second half.

Expansion is scheduled line by line. IBK Securities forecast in a May 2026 report that cathode capacity would expand to 100,000 tons by end-2026, with one additional line each in Q3 2026, Q4 2026 and Q1 2027 from Plant 3 (70,000 tons total, nine lines, 8,000 tons per line).

The same report expected solid power-tool and IT demand and a restart of supply to LG from late Q2 as a North American OEM plant resumed operations. Funding and overseas investment are also under way.

The company issued a KRW 120 billion convertible bond in January 2026, then approved a KRW 35 billion rights issue in March, saying it would build a European cathode facility first from as early as Q2 2026 and use remaining funds for domestic investment.

Reporting indicated total capacity would reach roughly 200,000 tons per year once the expansion is complete.

Brokerage views on the timing of recovery have diverged: Sangsangin Securities, in an April 17, 2026 report, forecast 2026 revenue of KRW 691.7 billion and operating profit of KRW 17.7 billion and set a target price of KRW 70,000, while IBK Securities said in a May 2026 report that weak US EV demand and a halt in ESS deliveries had made for a difficult stretch but that supply to LG resuming in Q2 and a first EV cathode shipment to Samsung SDI in Q3 meant the company was passing an earnings trough, presenting a target price of KRW 53,000.

What matters for verification is whether those line startups and customer shipments actually land in reported results.