PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are calculated in-house from the last 4 quarters (2025Q3–2026Q2) · Dividend yield is based on ₩0 per share · Prices as of the 2026-10-02 close
Cheongbo (formerly THE CUBE&) is a decades-old precision-casting maker of auto engine and transmission parts that in 2026 completed an 80% capital reduction, changed its name again, and added defense, aerospace and drone business purposes to its corporate charter.
Revenue fell from roughly KRW 36.0bn (2022) to KRW 24.9bn (2025) while operating profit stayed positive every year, yet net income to owners remained in the red for four straight years.
In April 2026 the board resolved to rename the company Cheongbo Industrial Co., Ltd. and add defense, aerospace, drone and missile development/maintenance to its stated business purposes, put to a shareholder vote at the June 12, 2026 extraordinary general meeting.
An 80% capital reduction completed on July 16, 2026 cut total shares outstanding from about 60.8 million to 12.2 million, with trading halted from July 10 during the procedure.
In November 2025 the terms of a KRW 4.1bn private convertible bond were revised, raising the coupon and maturity rates from 2%/3% to 5%/7% and cutting the conversion price from KRW 1,108 to KRW 1,000, signaling funding pressure and dilution risk.
Q2 2026 revenue of KRW 7.99bn and operating profit of KRW 1.01bn were the strongest of the past five quarters, yet the net loss to owners widened to KRW 2.25bn.
Founded in 1978, Cheongbo built up decades of precision-casting and metal-processing expertise to supply auto engine and transmission parts, serving global OEMs and Tier-1 makers such as Hyundai Motor Group and HD Hyundai Infracore with relationships often exceeding two decades.
Product sales are concentrated in two items, with Tappets accounting for roughly 50% and Housings about 49% of the mix. Because HD Hyundai Infracore's engines also power agricultural equipment made by Daedong and TYM, the company's results carry indirect exposure to the North American tractor demand cycle.
The company has changed its name repeatedly in a short span: under the current CEO it moved from Cheongbo Sanup to CBI, then to THE CUBE&, before reverting to Cheongbo Industrial Co., Ltd. in 2026.
In April 2026 the board resolved to rename the firm and add defense, aerospace, drone, and missile development and maintenance to its stated business purposes, an agenda item taken to the June 12, 2026 extraordinary shareholder meeting.
Earlier, in the first half of 2025, the company had pursued an AI, gaming and blockchain venture together with Kim Hwa-young, brother of Kakao founder Kim Beom-su and former CEO of K Cube Holdings, but that plan collapsed, after which a new investor group with alleged ties to so-called "capital-less M&A" operators became involved in management.
The company has held equity stakes in affiliates including JIN PING, NewCube Games and GB Innovation, and in early 2026 disclosed a series of decisions to sell portions of these stakes to raise cash.
As a result, Cheongbo currently combines its legacy engine and transmission parts manufacturing business with a newly added defense-aerospace business purpose for which no contracts or revenue have yet been disclosed.
| Quarter | Revenue | Operating profit | Op. margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025Q2 | ₩6.3B | ₩300M | 4.6% |
| 2025Q3 | ₩6.8B | ₩500M | 6.7% |
| 2025Q4 | ₩5.4B | -₩300M | −4.9% |
| 2026Q1 | ₩6.6B | -₩500M | −7.7% |
| 2026Q2 | ₩8B | ₩1B | 12.7% |
| Year | Revenue | Operating profit | Net income (parent) | Op. margin | ROE | Debt-to-equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | ₩36B | ₩400M | -₩29.7B | 1.1% | −69.7% | 74.4% |
| 2023 | ₩31.4B | ₩800M | -₩16.6B | 2.5% | −34.6% | 59.9% |
| 2024 | ₩24.4B | ₩1.4B | -₩14.8B | 5.8% | −25.3% | 35.2% |
| 2025 | ₩24.9B | ₩800M | -₩12.2B | 3.1% | −20.9% | 45.2% |
Consolidated basis (financial statements including subsidiaries) · Final figures from DART filings · Net income attributable to owners of the parent · Data as of 2026-08-23
Annual revenue declined from KRW 36.02bn in 2022 to KRW 31.36bn in 2023 and KRW 24.45bn in 2024, before ticking up slightly to KRW 24.91bn in 2025.
Operating margin stayed positive throughout, at 1.1% (2022), 2.5% (2023), 5.8% (2024) and 3.1% (2025), though absolute operating profit remained small, ranging from about KRW 0.39bn to KRW 1.41bn.
Net income attributable to owners, however, was negative in all four years — KRW -29.70bn (2022), KRW -16.63bn (2023), KRW -14.78bn (2024) and KRW -12.18bn (2025) — with losses narrowing over time but remaining far larger than operating profit, suggesting sizable non-operating charges such as equity-method or valuation losses.
Total equity actually rose from KRW 42.63bn in 2022 to KRW 58.36bn in 2025, implying external capital raised exceeded cumulative net losses. The debt ratio fell from 74.4% in 2022 to 35.2% in 2024 before rising again to 45.2% in 2025.
Operating cash flow turned positive for three consecutive years — KRW 5.65bn (2023), KRW 4.00bn (2024) and KRW 2.72bn (2025) — after a negative KRW 1.34bn in 2022, indicating the core business generated relatively stable cash despite the large reported net losses.
On a quarterly basis, operating profit of KRW 0.46bn in Q3 2025 was followed by operating losses of KRW -0.27bn in Q4 2025 and KRW -0.50bn in Q1 2026, before recovering to the strongest level of the five-quarter window in Q2 2026, with revenue of KRW 7.99bn and operating profit of KRW 1.01bn.
Net losses, however, spiked to KRW -9.13bn in Q4 2025 alone and widened again to KRW -2.25bn in Q2 2026, showing that non-operating items — rather than the operating recovery — have driven overall earnings volatility.
Over the most recent four quarters (Q3 2025 through Q2 2026), the net loss attributable to owners totaled roughly KRW 13.20bn, indicating the multi-year loss pattern has persisted into the latest window.
Cheongbo's core auto engine and transmission parts business operates in a mature segment where results are tied directly to the production plans of automakers and construction/agricultural equipment makers.
Market data indicates that expanding engine-segment demand at HD Hyundai Infracore, a stronger order base following the completion of its new Gunsan plant, and the end of inventory destocking in the North American farm-equipment market all contributed to revenue growth in the first half of 2026.
The same source notes that HD Hyundai Infracore is developing a hydrogen engine targeted for mass production in 2026, and that demand for medium/heavy-duty truck engine parts is expected to stay resilient over the medium term as Daimler Truck ramps up its next-generation engine.
Conversely, through the first three quarters of 2025, declining North American tractor demand at Daedong and TYM, expanded promotions, and higher logistics costs were cited as factors weighing on revenue.
This legacy business carries high customer concentration on a small number of large accounts (Hyundai Motor Group, HD Hyundai Infracore) and, as a small-to-mid-sized precision-casting supplier, sits at a scale disadvantage relative to larger domestic auto parts makers.
Meanwhile, the newly added defense, aerospace, drone and missile business purpose taps into a policy area receiving government attention, but Cheongbo remains at an early stage with no disclosed licenses, contracts or facilities specific to this business, leaving it without an established track record against incumbent defense specialists.
The company completed an 80% capital reduction on July 16, 2026, cutting total shares outstanding from 60,828,143 to 12,165,628, with trading halted from July 10 through the day before the new shares were relisted.
The reduction was aimed at offsetting accumulated deficits, effectively cleaning up a balance sheet weakened by years of net losses.
Alongside this, the board's April 24 resolution to rename the company Cheongbo Industrial Co., Ltd. and add defense, aerospace, drone and missile development/maintenance to its business purposes was put to the June 12, 2026 extraordinary shareholder meeting.
This agenda item, however, represents only a charter-level addition of business purposes and does not by itself imply confirmed contracts, licenses, or production capacity.
On the legacy side, market data suggests that expanded output at HD Hyundai Infracore's new Gunsan plant and a recovery in the North American farm-equipment market contributed to revenue growth in the first half of 2026, making it worth watching whether related volumes show up in coming quarterly results.
On the funding side, the terms of a private convertible bond were revised in favor of investors in November 2025, and in early 2026 the company disposed of equity stakes in affiliates such as JIN PING and GB Innovation to raise cash, so further capital-raising events alongside the pursuit of the new business cannot be ruled out.
The company has posted net losses attributable to owners for four consecutive years, making conventional earnings-based multiples difficult to apply, which is one reason the market tends to lean more on asset-value (book value) comparisons for this stock.
The share price sits below per-share net asset value, meaning it trades at a discount to book value. No recent dividend payments have been identified, so yield-based comparisons carry limited relevance.
It is also worth noting that a string of capital-structure events in a short period — the 80% capital reduction, revised convertible bond terms, and equity-stake disposals — have repeatedly reset the basis for per-share comparisons.
At present, no publicly available analyst consensus or target price could be identified, so external valuation judgments cannot be cited here.
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 2026-08-23
Q2 2026 operating profit of KRW 1.01bn was the highest of the past five quarters, and revenue of KRW 7.99bn was likewise the strongest in that window.
Coming after two consecutive quarters of operating losses, this rebound suggests the legacy engine and transmission parts business retains the capacity to generate profit. Operating cash flow also stayed positive for three straight years from 2023 to 2025, pointing to relatively stable core cash generation.
The 80% capital reduction offset accumulated deficits and reorganized the capital structure, and the debt ratio fell from 74.4% in 2022 to 35.2% in 2024. Total equity rose from KRW 42.6bn in 2022 to KRW 58.3bn in 2025 despite cumulative net losses, showing that external capital inflows exceeded losses. This balance-sheet cleanup provides at least some financial room to pursue new business initiatives.
The defense, aerospace, drone and missile business purpose added in 2026 creates optionality to enter a policy-favored area.
At the same time, in the legacy business, market commentary points to resilient medium/heavy-duty truck parts demand over the medium term, supported by HD Hyundai Infracore's hydrogen engine mass-production plan and Daimler Truck's next-generation engine ramp.
If both tracks progress in parallel, stable cash flow from the existing business could potentially help fund the new venture.
Net income attributable to owners was negative every year from 2022 through 2025, and Q4 2025 alone saw a large net loss of KRW 9.13bn, far exceeding the operating loss of KRW 0.27bn that quarter.
The fact that net losses have been much larger than the modest 1-6% operating margins posted each year points to substantial and volatile non-operating items such as equity-method or valuation losses. The unpredictability of whether such non-operating losses recur reduces earnings visibility.
Revenue fell sharply from KRW 36.0bn in 2022 to KRW 24.4bn in 2024, and stayed around KRW 24.9bn in 2025.
Product sales are concentrated in just two items, Tappets and Housings, and in a small number of customers such as Hyundai Motor Group and HD Hyundai Infracore, leaving results vulnerable to shifts in a single customer's production plans or external factors such as North American farm-equipment inventory adjustments.
The company changed its name four times in a short span — from Cheongbo Sanup to CBI to THE CUBE& and back to Cheongbo — and in 2025 an AI, gaming and blockchain venture collapsed, after which a new investor group facing scrutiny over alleged ties to so-called capital-less M&A operators became involved in management.
In addition, the November 2025 revision of private convertible bond terms in favor of investors points simultaneously to funding pressure and further dilution risk. This history of governance and financing events could weigh on confidence in the execution of the newly added defense-aerospace business purpose.
The addition of defense, aerospace, drone and missile business purposes remains at the charter-amendment stage, with no disclosed licenses, contracts or production facilities to date.
Given the precedent of the earlier AI, gaming and blockchain venture that collapsed, there is a risk this new initiative may not proceed as planned during execution.
Four consecutive years of net losses and a large one-off loss in Q4 2025 illustrate the volatility of the company's financial structure.
Having already revised its private convertible bond terms in favor of investors and completed an 80% capital reduction, further rights issues or convertible bond issuances to fund the new business could expand dilution for existing shareholders.
Repeated name changes and business-purpose additions in a short period, along with the involvement of a new investor group facing scrutiny over alleged ties to capital-less M&A operators, could weigh on market trust. If this pattern continues, investors may demand greater scrutiny of future disclosures and financing plans.
The Q3 2026 quarterly report is due around this time, offering a chance to check both concrete progress on the new defense-aerospace business and the revenue/profitability trend in the legacy engine parts business.
Investors should watch for follow-up disclosures specifying concrete licenses, contracts, or capital expenditure tied to the newly added defense, aerospace, drone and missile business purpose.
Following the 80% capital reduction and the pursuit of the new business, it is worth monitoring whether additional rights offerings or convertible bond issuances occur, and on what terms.
It is worth checking how much the expansion of HD Hyundai Infracore's new Gunsan plant and the recovery in the North American farm-equipment market are actually reflected in quarterly revenue and orders.
Cheongbo sits at a transition point where its nearly five-decade-old auto engine and transmission parts business coexists with a newly added defense, aerospace and drone business purpose from 2026.
The legacy business showed signs of recovery in Q2 2026, with revenue and operating profit reaching the highest levels of the past five quarters, but four consecutive years of net losses attributable to owners and a large one-off loss in Q4 2025 indicate that non-operating volatility remains substantial.
A string of capital-structure events — the 80% capital reduction, revised convertible bond terms, and equity-stake disposals — occurred in a short period, and frequent renaming along with the entry of a new investor group warrant continued governance monitoring.
The newly added business purpose remains at an early stage without concrete contracts or licenses, and whether it translates into an actual business can only be confirmed through future disclosures.
From a valuation standpoint, persistent net losses make conventional earnings multiples difficult to apply, leaving asset-value comparisons relatively more relevant for now.
This report does not offer a buy or sell opinion or a target price, and any investment decision should rest on the reader's own judgment and further verification.
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.