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
KidariStudio turned from a 2024 loss to a 2025 profit and kept improving its operating margin in the first half of 2026, but much of the earnings growth is coming from overseas subsidiaries such as Lezhin Entertainment rather than the parent company itself.
2025 consolidated revenue reached KRW 217.5bn with operating profit of KRW 12.4bn, a turnaround from the 2024 net loss of KRW 7.2bn
Q2 2026 consolidated operating margin hit 8.6%, above both the year-ago 3.6% and Q1 2026's 5.9%
Standalone (parent-only) operating profit actually declined, meaning consolidated improvement leans heavily on subsidiaries like Lezhin Entertainment and overseas units
Overseas platforms including Taiwan's Bomtoon TW, Japan's BelToon JP, and the US's Lezhin US led growth, turning the global segment profitable
The new short-drama platform Lezhin Snack and other IP-commerce initiatives are cited as the key variable for second-half results
Founded in 1987 and listed on the KOSPI in 1996, KidariStudio is a comprehensive content company operating the webtoon and web-novel platforms Bomtoon, Lezhin Comics, and Delitoon, while also producing original content through its own studios.
Its 2020 acquisition of subsidiary Lezhin Entertainment, which runs Lezhin Comics, also brought overseas distribution networks in the US and Japan into the fold.
The business model centers on webtoon/web-novel content services but extends into an one-source-multi-use structure covering IP merchandising through the MD platform Jaeimi Shop, third-party content-provider (CP) work, and video content production and distribution.
Its core readership is concentrated in female-oriented and adult genres, with such content reportedly accounting for a large share of revenue at Bomtoon and Lezhin Comics.
Overseas, the company runs region-specific platforms including Taiwan's Bomtoon TW, Japan's female-oriented BelToon JP, and North America's Lezhin US as it pursues global expansion.
In the domestic webtoon and web-novel market it competes with large players such as Naver Webtoon, Kakao Entertainment, and Ridi, and overlaps in similar business lines with companies like Toomics, Mrblue, and Contents First.
More recently, subsidiary Lezhin Entertainment simultaneously launched the short-drama platform Lezhin Snack in Korea, the US, and Japan, extending its owned IP into short-form video content as a new growth initiative.
The company also pursues media-mix strategies such as adapting web novels into webtoons and turning webtoon IP into dramas and films.
| Quarter | Revenue | Operating profit | Op. margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025Q2 | ₩51.8B | ₩1.9B | 3.6% |
| 2025Q3 | ₩52.8B | ₩3.6B | 6.7% |
| 2025Q4 | ₩64.7B | ₩6.4B | 9.9% |
| 2026Q1 | ₩58.3B | ₩3.4B | 5.9% |
| 2026Q2 | ₩64.4B | ₩5.5B | 8.6% |
| Year | Revenue | Operating profit | Net income (parent) | Op. margin | ROE | Debt-to-equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | ₩169.4B | ₩4.3B | -₩2.8B | 2.5% | −1.0% | 37.9% |
| 2023 | ₩171B | -₩5.7B | -₩34.5B | −3.4% | −16.6% | 65.0% |
| 2024 | ₩205.2B | ₩2.2B | -₩7.6B | 1.1% | −3.8% | 65.1% |
| 2025 | ₩217.5B | ₩12.4B | ₩6.6B | 5.7% | 3.3% | 68.4% |
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
Looking at annual results, revenue grew from KRW 169.4bn in 2022 (operating profit KRW 4.3bn, margin 2.5%) but the company swung to an operating loss of KRW 5.7bn (margin -3.4%) in 2023 on revenue of KRW 171.0bn, with the net loss attributable to owners widening to KRW 34.5bn.
In 2024 revenue grew to KRW 205.2bn but operating profit was only KRW 2.2bn (margin 1.1%), and the owners' net loss of KRW 7.6bn marked a third straight year of net losses.
In 2025, revenue reached KRW 217.5bn and operating profit jumped to KRW 12.4bn (margin 5.7%), while net income attributable to owners turned positive at KRW 6.6bn.
On a quarterly basis, operating profit rose steadily from KRW 1.9bn in Q2 2025 to KRW 3.6bn in Q3 and KRW 6.4bn in Q4, then eased to KRW 3.4bn in Q1 2026 before climbing again to KRW 5.5bn in Q2 2026, continuing the improving trend.
Quarterly owners' net income has been more volatile — KRW 0.9bn in Q4 2025, KRW 6.3bn in Q1 2026, and KRW 2.0bn in Q2 2026 — following a different pattern from operating profit, suggesting non-operating items materially affected net income in certain quarters.
Indeed, in Q1 2026 owners' net income (KRW 6.3bn) exceeded operating profit (KRW 3.4bn), pointing to a non-operating gain being reflected that quarter.
Summed over the trailing four quarters (Q3 2025 through Q2 2026), owners' net income reached roughly KRW 12.3bn, already surpassing the full-year 2025 figure of KRW 6.6bn.
Operating cash flow also rose steadily from KRW 4.1bn in 2023 to KRW 14.0bn in 2024 and KRW 21.3bn in 2025, indicating that earnings improvement has translated into stronger cash generation as well.
Korea's webtoon and web-novel industry is led by large platforms such as Naver Webtoon and Kakao Entertainment, which in past surveys accounted for the majority and second-largest share of page views respectively, placing KidariStudio among the relatively smaller, later-entrant operators.
According to a survey by the Korea Publishing Culture Promotion Agency, the domestic web-novel market grew from roughly KRW 1.04tn in 2022 to about KRW 1.35tn in 2023, and industry estimates suggest the market has since expanded toward roughly KRW 2tn, indicating a broadening base of content consumption.
Alongside this growth, competition has intensified, with similar operators such as Mrblue and Toomics also referenced in industry coverage, making content-investment cost burdens and profitability common challenges across the sector.
Illegal webtoon distribution remains a persistent risk, and the fact that major platforms including Naver Webtoon, Kakao Entertainment, Ridi, KidariStudio, and Lezhin Entertainment have formed a joint council against illegal webtoon distribution underscores how seriously the industry treats this issue.
KidariStudio is relatively small compared to the largest platforms, but it seeks differentiation through content specialized in adult and female-oriented niche genres and through overseas platforms in Taiwan, Japan, and North America.
More recently, an industry-wide trend has emerged of extending IP usage beyond webtoons and web novels into new formats such as short dramas, exemplified by Lezhin Snack, and KidariStudio is participating in that trend.
The company characterized its Q1 2026 results as an earnings 'turning point' and said it plans to accelerate expansion of its IP-commerce business from there.
Specifically, it laid out plans for a series of offline global events starting with a domestic pop-up store from late May, followed by events in key overseas hubs such as Taiwan, China, and the US.
In its new short-drama business, subsidiary Lezhin Entertainment's platform Lezhin Snack has released a short-drama adaptation of its flagship IP 'Yahwacheop,' and the company said further highly anticipated titles are planned for the second half.
On the overseas front, early results have been confirmed, with Taiwan's Bomtoon TW growing more than threefold year-on-year in Q1 2026 and Japan's BelToon JP growing 64%, and the company expects this overseas momentum to continue.
In June 2026 the company disclosed the termination of a treasury-stock discretionary trust contract, which bears watching for any follow-up shareholder-return measures.
How much these new-business and overseas-expansion plans translate into actual results will need to be confirmed through subsequent quarterly disclosures, and recovery in standalone (parent-only) profitability remains another variable to watch.
KidariStudio posted net losses in 2023 and 2024 before turning profitable in 2025, and its operating margin has continued to improve through the first half of 2026.
In this early stage of earnings recovery, markets tend to price in some expectation of continued improvement, so the relationship between the share price and net asset value or historical trading ranges should be considered alongside the pace of that earnings recovery.
On dividends, no cash dividend was paid based on the most recently confirmed fiscal year, meaning shareholder returns, if any, would need to be assessed through other channels such as treasury-stock policy.
The fact that trailing four-quarter net income already exceeds full-year 2025 net income points to a continuing improvement trend, but as noted above, quarterly net income has been influenced by non-operating factors, so simple comparisons should be made with caution.
When assessing valuation, it is also worth weighing that much of the consolidated earnings improvement stems from overseas units and subsidiaries rather than the parent company, and that new initiatives such as Lezhin Snack remain at an early stage.
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
Taiwan's Bomtoon TW grew more than threefold year-on-year in Q1 2026, and Japan's BelToon JP grew 64%, showing clear growth momentum across overseas platforms.
In Q2, the entire global platform segment reportedly turned profitable, an early signal that overseas operations are shifting from a cost factor to a profit contributor. If this regional growth continues, it could support the sustainability of consolidated earnings improvement.
The annual operating margin improved from -3.4% in 2023 to 1.1% in 2024 and 5.7% in 2025, then rose further to 8.6% in Q2 2026, above both the year-ago 3.6% and Q1's 5.9%.
After three consecutive years of net losses, the company achieved a net profit turnaround in 2025, confirming the direction of earnings-structure improvement. Operating cash flow also grew from KRW 4.1bn in 2023 to KRW 21.3bn in 2025, showing that profit improvement is translating into cash generation as well.
Through the short-drama platform Lezhin Snack, the company is extending flagship IP into video content, while building an IP-commerce value chain that combines the MD platform Jaeimi Shop with offline channels such as pop-up stores.
This represents an attempt to diversify revenue sources beyond the traditional webtoon/web-novel payment model, and if results become visible it could enhance portfolio stability. Additional highly anticipated titles are planned for the second half, making the progress of this new business worth monitoring.
While consolidated results are improving, standalone (parent-only) operating profit reportedly declined, meaning a substantial portion of consolidated profit growth is coming from subsidiaries and overseas units.
This suggests that profitability recovery at the core parent business remains incomplete, and reliance on subsidiary performance also exposes the company to governance or affiliate-related risk. When standalone profitability improvement becomes visible is a key point to watch.
Amid ongoing competition with large platforms such as Naver Webtoon, Kakao Entertainment, and Ridi, concerns about content-investment cost burdens and intensifying competition have been raised across the webtoon and web-novel industry.
As a relatively smaller, later-entrant operator, KidariStudio could also face profitability pressure from new-business investment and content-acquisition costs. Despite overall market growth, expanding individual market share remains a difficult proposition.
Owners' net income showed a pattern different from operating profit — KRW 0.9bn in Q4 2025, KRW 6.3bn in Q1 2026, and KRW 2.0bn in Q2 2026 — with Q1 in particular appearing to have been boosted significantly by non-operating factors.
This volatility makes it difficult to judge the extent of underlying business improvement from quarterly results alone. Similar non-operating swings cannot be ruled out in future quarters.
Illegal webtoon distribution remains a persistent industry-wide risk, serious enough that major platforms have formed a joint council to combat it.
Given the company's relatively high exposure to adult and female-oriented niche genres, it may also be relatively sensitive to changes in content-rating or distribution-related regulation. Such external changes could directly affect revenue and profitability.
Because consolidated profit improvement depends heavily on subsidiaries and overseas units such as Lezhin Entertainment rather than the parent, a slowdown at a specific subsidiary or changes in an overseas market environment could have an outsized effect on consolidated results.
Expansion through numerous unlisted subsidiaries also carries management and integration risk. If the gap between standalone and consolidated results persists, interpreting earnings becomes more complex.
There have been cases where quarterly owners' net income moved in a different direction from operating profit, making it difficult to project future results based solely on the operating-profit trend.
If non-operating gains or losses are heavily reflected in a particular quarter, this could create a gap versus market expectations. How initial investment costs for new businesses such as Lezhin Snack will affect future profit and loss is also a source of uncertainty.
Q3 2026 preliminary operating results are expected to be disclosed — a point to check whether the consolidated operating-margin improvement seen in Q2 continues, and whether standalone (parent-only) results also improve.
Check whether segment-level revenue breakdowns (webtoon, MD, video) and performance by overseas subsidiary are disclosed in detail — the preliminary disclosures currently lack these specifics, making it hard to gauge subsidiary contribution.
Watch for additional Lezhin Snack IP lineup announcements and whether overseas offline fan events in Taiwan, China, and the US produce measurable results.
Following the June 2026 termination of the treasury-stock discretionary trust, check whether additional buyback or disposal plans are disclosed to gauge the direction of shareholder-return policy.
KidariStudio turned profitable in 2025 after three consecutive years of net losses, and its consolidated operating margin has continued to improve on a quarterly basis through the first half of 2026.
However, much of this improvement stems not from the parent company but from subsidiaries such as Lezhin Entertainment and overseas platforms in Taiwan, Japan, and North America, so the gap between consolidated and standalone results warrants attention.
Quarterly owners' net income has at times diverged from the operating-profit trend, requiring interpretation that accounts for non-operating factors.
The new short-drama platform Lezhin Snack and broader IP-commerce expansion remain at an early stage, making how additional second-half lineups and results feed into future earnings a key thing to watch.
On the industry side, countering illegal distribution, competing with large platforms, and managing content-investment costs remain ongoing challenges.
Overall, the direction of earnings recovery is confirmed, but its sustainability and the recovery of parent-company profitability are matters that still need to be verified through upcoming quarterly disclosures.
Report written 2026-09-05 · Data as of 2026-09-04
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