PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are calculated in-house from the last 4 quarters (2025Q3–2026Q2) · Dividend yield is based on ₩10,000 per share · Prices as of the 2026-10-02 close
Quarterly revenue set another record while the operating margin sagged under tariffs, input costs and lost output, leaving localized production and the pace of physical-AI execution as the key things to watch next.
On confirmed figures, operating profit fell for two straight years, from KRW 15.127tn in 2023 to KRW 14.240tn in 2024 and KRW 11.468tn in 2025, with the operating margin sliding from 9.3% to 6.2%.
Revenue expanded from KRW 142.528tn in 2022 to KRW 186.255tn in 2025, showing that pricing, mix and currency, more than unit volume, drove the top line.
Management guided 2026 wholesale volume of 4,158,300 units, revenue growth of 1.0-2.0% and an operating margin of 6.3-7.3%, and reiterated that guidance with second-quarter results.
Wage talks were finally settled in early September after 60 hours of strikes, but the industry estimates roughly 55,200 units of lost output, and August global sales fell 14.2% year on year.
At the August CEO Investor Day the company set 2030 targets of 5.55m units and an operating margin above 9%, alongside fourth-quarter robotaxi deliveries to Waymo and humanoid deployment from 2028.
Hyundai Motor combines a core auto business spanning passenger cars, RVs, commercial vehicles and the premium Genesis brand with a consolidated captive finance arm covering installment lending and leasing.
In the second quarter of 2026 the automotive segment posted revenue of KRW 36.832tn while finance and other businesses contributed KRW 12.383tn.
Volume is centered overseas: domestic sales in the second quarter of 2026 came to just 157,647 units because of a supplier fire that disrupted parts supply, while overseas sales were 834,238 units, including 264,587 in the United States, where local share stayed in the 6% range for a fifth straight quarter.
Hybrids are the growth axis of the powertrain mix: electrified vehicle sales in the same quarter reached 266,627 units, comprising 69,366 battery EVs and 187,661 hybrids, the highest quarterly hybrid figure on record, with electrified and hybrid shares of total sales peaking at 26.9% and 18.9%.
The United States is the largest single market, and 2025 local sales of 1,006,613 units marked the first time the company passed one million units in a year there.
Production is spread across Ulsan and Asan at home plus Alabama, the Georgia metaplant (HMGMA), India and Europe, and HMGMA, previously EV-only, began hybrid output in June 2026, allowing lower tariff costs and a faster response to local hybrid demand.
The domestic lineup rests on the Grandeur, Sonata and Avante sedans, Santa Fe, Palisade and Ioniq RVs, Porter and Staria commercial models, and the Genesis G80, GV70 and GV80.
Competitively the company fights on two fronts, against Japanese, American and European rivals in developed markets and against Chinese makers in emerging markets and EVs, and even at home BYD registered 4,652 units in June and 2,846 in July 2026, starting to take a slice of price-sensitive EV demand.
Layered on top are group-level new businesses: the Motional autonomous driving joint venture, software unit 42dot and robotics subsidiary Boston Dynamics.
| Quarter | Revenue | Operating profit | Op. margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025Q2 | ₩48.3T | ₩3.6T | 7.5% |
| 2025Q3 | ₩46.7T | ₩2.5T | 5.4% |
| 2025Q4 | ₩46.8T | ₩1.7T | 3.6% |
| 2026Q1 | ₩45.9T | ₩2.5T | 5.5% |
| 2026Q2 | ₩49.2T | ₩2.9T | 5.8% |
| Year | Revenue | Operating profit | Net income (parent) | Op. margin | ROE | Debt-to-equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | ₩142.5T | ₩9.8T | ₩7.4T | 6.9% | 8.9% | 181.4% |
| 2023 | ₩162.7T | ₩15.1T | ₩12T | 9.3% | 12.9% | 177.4% |
| 2024 | ₩175.2T | ₩14.2T | ₩12.5T | 8.1% | 11.5% | 182.5% |
| 2025 | ₩186.3T | ₩11.5T | ₩9.4T | 6.2% | 8.2% | 189.0% |
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
On confirmed annual figures, revenue rose steadily from KRW 142.528tn in 2022 to KRW 162.664tn in 2023, KRW 175.231tn in 2024 and KRW 186.255tn in 2025.
Operating profit, by contrast, peaked at KRW 15.127tn in 2023 before easing to KRW 14.240tn in 2024 and KRW 11.468tn in 2025, with the margin falling three years running from 9.3% to 8.1% and then 6.2%.
Net profit attributable to owners also dropped from KRW 12.527tn in 2024 to KRW 9.446tn in 2025, a contraction far steeper than the pace of revenue growth.
The quarterly path is even clearer: operating profit slid from KRW 3.602tn in the second quarter of 2025 (a margin of roughly 7.5%) to KRW 2.537tn in the third and KRW 1.695tn in the fourth (about 3.6%), then recovered off that trough to KRW 2.515tn in the first quarter of 2026 and KRW 2.851tn in the second.
The weak fourth quarter of 2025 reflected tariffs, higher incentives and one-off costs together.
In the first quarter of 2026 the company cited a KRW 860bn tariff impact, about KRW 300bn of incremental incentives, roughly KRW 250bn from disrupted Middle East sales, and about KRW 270bn from revaluing foreign-currency buyback provisions after a sharp jump in the period-end exchange rate.
The second quarter of 2026 delivered record revenue of KRW 49.215tn, yet the cost-of-sales ratio rose 1.1 percentage points year on year to 82.2% on higher raw material prices and operating profit fell 20.8%.
Summing the four quarters from the third of 2025 through the second of 2026 gives roughly KRW 188.7tn of revenue and about KRW 9.6tn of operating profit, a margin in the 5% range that still sits below the 6.3% low end of full-year guidance.
On the balance sheet, total liabilities of KRW 241.197tn against total equity of KRW 127.648tn at the end of 2025 put the debt-to-equity ratio at 189.0%, up from 177.4% in 2023, while consolidated operating cash flow has been reported as negative since 2023, a figure that must be read in light of the captive finance arm and its installment receivables being consolidated into the same statement.
End demand has clearly cooled. The company said global auto industry demand fell 3.8% year on year in the second quarter of 2026 amid geopolitical issues and intensifying competition.
Trade policy remains the biggest swing factor for where the cycle sits: with a 15% tariff applied to Korean-built vehicles and parts, the cost burden on Hyundai Motor and Kia is estimated in the trillions of won a year.
Tariffs borne by the two companies in the first half of 2026 are put at roughly KRW 3.37tn, and with talks stalled over how to implement the October 2025 deal that cut the rate from 25% to 15% in exchange for US investment commitments, the possibility of the rate going back up has been raised.
Demand has also shifted from pure battery EVs toward hybrids, a mix that relatively favors Korean and Japanese makers with deep hybrid lineups. At the same time low-price competition from Chinese brands is spreading beyond emerging markets into the domestic EV segment.
Against its closest domestic peer the recent trend has diverged: in August 2026 Hyundai Motor sales fell 14.2% on strike-related output losses while Kia grew 5.0% on stronger overseas volume. Input costs offer no relief either, as the company attributed the higher cost-of-sales ratio to rising raw material prices.
In short, the industry is in a phase where defending margin against tariffs, costs and incentives matters more than chasing unit growth.
Starting with the company's own numbers, 2026 guidance calls for revenue growth of 1.0-2.0%, a consolidated operating margin of 6.3-7.3% and wholesale volume of 4,158,300 units, while the investment plan totals KRW 17.8tn, including KRW 7.4tn of R&D, KRW 9tn of capital expenditure and KRW 1.4tn of strategic investment.
Management said it would concentrate company-wide efforts, alongside a fuller second-half new-model push, on meeting the guidance set at the start of the year.
The launch calendar is dense: the plan is to accelerate production stabilization of the Avante, GV90 and GV80 hybrid in the second half, and the new Tucson and Tucson hybrid are also slated for introduction. Medium-term targets were raised at the August event.
The company lifted its 2030 consolidated operating margin target from 8-9% to above 9%, plans to cut the cost-of-sales ratio three percentage points versus the prior plan, kept this year's margin guidance unchanged, and said it would maintain a shareholder return ratio of at least 35% along with quarterly dividends.
It intends to launch more than 100 new models between 2026 and 2030 and add 1.27m units of global capacity by 2030, comprising 500,000 in North America, 320,000 in India, 200,000 at home and 250,000 in knock-down assembly, while ten new hybrids lift hybrids to 50% of North American sales.
New businesses have moved into execution: Ioniq 5-based robotaxis built at HMGMA are to be supplied to Waymo in the fourth quarter, Motional plans to commercialize an Ioniq 5 robotaxi service by year-end, the Robot Metaplant Application Center in Georgia is to be expanded tenfold by year-end, and the Atlas humanoid is scheduled for field deployment at HMGMA from 2028.
Near term, recovering the volume lost to the strike is the gate to hitting guidance, and some brokerages argue the full 62,000 units of lost output cannot be made up within the year and have flagged possible trims to annual estimates.
The first thing to note when reading the valuation is the slope of earnings.
Net profit attributable to owners fell from KRW 12.527tn in 2024 to KRW 9.446tn in 2025, and the sum of the four quarters from the third of 2025 through the second of 2026 is lower still at roughly KRW 8.1tn, thinning the denominator behind any earnings-based multiple.
Korean automakers traded on single-digit earnings multiples for long stretches in the past, whereas through 2026, with robotics and autonomous driving expectations in the frame, the shares have changed hands at a higher band, meaning part of the multiple is not explained by core auto profit alone.
On an asset basis the stock still trades below its net asset value per share, a fact that sits alongside an operating margin that compressed to 6.2% even as revenue kept growing.
On distributions, the company finalized its 2025 year-end payout and held the annual dividend steady, and under its medium-term policy plans to buy back roughly KRW 400bn of its own shares and cancel them all during 2026, so a shareholder return ratio of at least 35% and a quarterly dividend policy stand on the other side of the multiple debate.
Views on direction diverge: according to FnGuide data, right after the August 2026 CEO Investor Day, Samsung Securities cut its target price from KRW 650,000 to KRW 600,000 and NH Investment & Securities from KRW 760,000 to KRW 620,000.
Ultimately, whether the margin returns to the low end of guidance and whether robotaxi and robot revenue shows up in reported numbers are the reference points for interpreting these metrics.
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
Even with fewer units sold, revenue kept rising. Second-quarter 2026 revenue rose 1.9% year on year to KRW 49.215tn, surpassing the prior record of KRW 48.287tn set in the second quarter of 2025. Hybrid sales hit a quarterly record and the electrified and hybrid shares of the mix both reached new highs.
The average won-dollar rate in the quarter was KRW 1,502, up 7.0% year on year, a tailwind for reported revenue.
Even with the tariff rate unchanged, exposure falls as more vehicles are built and sold inside the United States. HMGMA, previously EV-only, began hybrid production in June 2026, which observers see as cutting tariff costs while addressing fast-growing local hybrid demand.
The company plans capacity additions through 2030 including 500,000 units in North America, placing plants closer to sales markets to reduce tariff and logistics costs.
Foreign media have reported that raising HMGMA capacity to 700,000-800,000 units by 2028 is under consideration, versus a currently planned level of about 500,000.
Robotaxis and robots have moved from slideware onto a schedule. The company said Ioniq 5-based robotaxis built at HMGMA will be handed over to Waymo in the second half, that nine months of public-road testing is complete and that the vehicles are ready for delivery.
It also said it will build annual robot production capacity of 30,000 units by 2028, has secured initial orders of 25,000 units and expects to absorb a large share of that volume within the group.
Management framed the plan as expanding into an autonomous vehicle foundry that develops and builds bespoke vehicles for self-driving technology firms and mobility platforms.
The confirmed margin trend has been down for three consecutive years, from 9.3% in 2023 to 8.1% in 2024 and 6.2% in 2025, and the last four quarters combined sit in the 5% range.
The company explained that its 5.8% operating margin in the second quarter of 2026 reflected higher raw material prices and lost output from a supplier fire, despite strong hybrid sales and active contingency plans.
Getting back to the 6.3% low end of guidance would require simultaneous improvement in costs and volume in the second half.
Volume indicators are visibly weak. August 2026 global sales fell 14.2% year on year to 288,574 units, the first month below 300,000 in about four years and seven months, while domestic sales plunged 41.1% to an eleven-year low.
Cumulative global sales for January through August were also down 6.0% year on year at 2,575,360 units. The industry estimates strike-related output losses of roughly 55,200 units and revenue losses of at least KRW 2.3tn.
Despite the raised medium-term targets, market reaction was mixed.
NH Investment & Securities analyst Ha Neul said Hyundai Motor is preparing new businesses across physical AI, including humanoids and autonomous driving, but is moving more slowly than the market expects and lagging peers even as regulatory and other external conditions improve.
The fact that robotics is being pursued through subsidiaries for now was also cited as adding to investor unease. Until the timing of new-business revenue reaching the income statement becomes clear, the core auto results will stay at the center of the discussion.
Tariffs are both a booked cost and a moving variable. In a February 2026 report, KB Securities projected that if a 15% tariff applies to Korean-built vehicles, Hyundai Motor would bear KRW 3.4tn of US tariff costs in 2026.
With talks over the method and timing of US investment commitments delayed and a tariff increase raised as a possibility, Korea's trade minister made an urgent trip to Washington.
A large share of vehicles sold in the United States is still imported from Korea, leaving earnings directly exposed to changes in the tariff rate.
On confirmed figures, total liabilities stood at KRW 241.197tn against total equity of KRW 127.648tn at end-2025, lifting the debt-to-equity ratio to 189.0% from 177.4% in 2023.
Consolidated operating cash flow swung from an inflow of KRW 10.627tn in 2022 to outflows from 2023 onward, reported as an outflow of KRW 5.991tn in 2025.
That reflects consolidation of the captive finance arm and its installment assets, but it still warrants scrutiny of the funding structure during a heavy investment phase. The 2026 investment plan of KRW 17.8tn is relevant context here.
Softening demand and intensifying competition are running in parallel. The company said global auto industry demand fell 3.8% year on year in the second quarter of 2026.
For the first quarter of 2026, management said incentive costs rose about KRW 300bn year on year as it responded to weaker market demand and the repeal of the US Inflation Reduction Act.
At home, Chinese brands have begun taking a share of price-sensitive EV demand, a factor seen pressuring domestic share over a longer horizon than short-lived events such as a strike.
September monthly sales release. This is the first data point to show whether domestic and overseas volumes normalize as the strike-related output losses and deferred demand ahead of new models that the company blamed for August weakness unwind.
Third-quarter earnings conference call. Key items are progress against the 6.3-7.3% full-year operating margin guidance, the size of the quarterly tariff cost, and how much of the strike-hit volume has been recovered.
Whether the start of Ioniq 5-based robotaxi supply to Waymo from HMGMA, Motional's Ioniq 5 robotaxi commercialization, and the tenfold expansion of the Robot Metaplant Application Center site in Georgia proceed on schedule will gauge execution in the new businesses.
Watch for execution of the stated plan to cancel roughly KRW 400bn of treasury shares during 2026, delivery on the shareholder return ratio of at least 35% and the quarterly dividend policy, and the 2027 guidance to be presented alongside full-year results.
Follow-up trade talks between Korea and the United States and any change in the tariff rate. With delays over the method and timing of investment implementation prompting talk of a tariff increase, official rate announcements should be read alongside the quarterly tariff impact the company discloses.
Hyundai Motor's recent results can be summed up as record revenue with shrinking profit. Revenue grew from KRW 142.528tn in 2022 to KRW 186.255tn in 2025, while operating profit peaked at KRW 15.127tn in 2023 and fell to KRW 11.468tn in 2025, taking the margin from 9.3% down to 6.2%.
Quarterly profit bottomed at KRW 1.695tn (about 3.6%) in the fourth quarter of 2025 before recovering to KRW 2.515tn and KRW 2.851tn in the first and second quarters of 2026, yet the margin over the latest four quarters remains in the 5% range.
The bullish case rests on hybrid-led mix improvement, a favorable exchange rate, reduced tariff exposure as US local production expands, and robotaxi and robot supply schedules that now sit on an actual calendar.
The bearish case rests on tariffs and raw material costs still weighing on earnings, volume data showing an August global sales decline of 14.2% with domestic volume down 41.1%, and brokerage criticism that new businesses are progressing more slowly than the market expects.
With wage talks finally settled after 60 hours of strikes, clearing the way to focus on normalizing second-half production and expanding sales, the speed of volume recovery becomes the gate to meeting guidance.
What matters from here is how quickly new models and hybrids restore volume, where the tariff rate lands, and when robotaxi and robot revenue actually appears in the income statement. This report is for informational purposes only and contains no buy or sell recommendation.
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.