PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are calculated in-house from the last 4 quarters (2025Q3–2026Q2) · Dividend yield is based on ₩200 per share · Prices as of the 2026-10-02 close
Tapex, a specialist in adhesive tapes for secondary batteries and semiconductors, has shown a recovery trend since the second half of 2025, with both quarterly revenue and operating margin improving in tandem.
Q2 2026 revenue reached KRW 40.70 billion with operating profit of KRW 3.18 billion, marking five consecutive quarters of improvement
Full-year 2025 operating margin recovered to 1.8% from 1.1% in 2024, but remains well below the 14.0% recorded in 2022
Net income attributable to owners swung from a loss of KRW 0.73 billion in Q2 2025 to a profit of KRW 3.20 billion in Q2 2026
Hansol Chemical holds approximately 44.8% of shares as the largest shareholder, providing a relatively stable ownership structure
Business is organized around two pillars: electronic materials (tapes for batteries, semiconductors, and displays) and consumer goods (Uniwrap food packaging film)
Tapex was founded in 1977 and has grown as a chemical materials company based on adhesive tape manufacturing; since being acquired by Hansol Chemical in 2016, it has operated as a subsidiary within the Hansol group.
The business is split into two segments: Electronic Materials (EM), which covers tapes for secondary batteries, semiconductor and display processes (OCA), and automotive applications, and Consumer Goods (TW), which produces Uniwrap-branded food packaging film and OPP tape.
As of the first half of 2025, the Electronic Materials and Consumer Goods segments recorded revenue of KRW 35.7 billion and KRW 31.2 billion respectively, showing a relatively balanced revenue split between the two divisions.
The company has a track record of being selected as a first-tier vendor for Samsung Electronics' semiconductor division and Samsung Display, and its customer base includes global battery makers alongside Korea's three major battery producers.
The largest shareholder is Hansol Chemical, which together with related parties holds approximately 44.8% of shares, providing a relatively stable governance structure.
In the electronic materials segment, the company has pursued a strategy of preemptively securing new production sites and capacity while expanding supply of secondary-battery tapes to global battery and automotive manufacturers.
Expanding into European and North American markets and growing UV-tape sales are also cited as growth strategies the company is pursuing.
| Quarter | Revenue | Operating profit | Op. margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025Q2 | ₩35.8B | ₩500M | 1.5% |
| 2025Q3 | ₩37.4B | ₩1.3B | 3.4% |
| 2025Q4 | ₩36.9B | ₩1.2B | 3.4% |
| 2026Q1 | ₩38.6B | ₩1.8B | 4.8% |
| 2026Q2 | ₩40.7B | ₩3.2B | 7.8% |
| Year | Revenue | Operating profit | Net income (parent) | Op. margin | ROE | Debt-to-equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | ₩182.3B | ₩25.5B | ₩18.9B | 14.0% | 12.8% | 33.5% |
| 2023 | ₩145.8B | ₩6.6B | ₩8.1B | 4.5% | 5.3% | 30.9% |
| 2024 | ₩136B | ₩1.4B | ₩3.6B | 1.1% | 2.3% | 22.9% |
| 2025 | ₩141.1B | ₩2.5B | ₩2B | 1.8% | 1.3% | 29.1% |
Consolidated basis (financial statements including subsidiaries) · Final figures from DART filings · Net income attributable to owners of the parent · Data as of 2026-08-21
Tapex's annual performance peaked in 2022 with revenue of KRW 182.26 billion and operating profit of KRW 25.45 billion, an operating margin of 14.0%, before entering a clear downtrend.
In 2023, revenue fell to KRW 145.84 billion with the operating margin dropping to 4.5%, and 2024 marked a trough with revenue of KRW 135.95 billion, operating profit of just KRW 1.43 billion, and an operating margin of 1.1%.
In 2025, revenue edged up to KRW 141.14 billion while operating profit rose to KRW 2.51 billion, an operating margin of 1.8%, showing a recovery versus the prior year.
On a quarterly basis, Q2 2025 revenue was KRW 35.83 billion with operating profit of KRW 0.55 billion (a 1.5% margin) and a net loss attributable to owners of KRW 0.73 billion, but the operating margin then improved for five consecutive quarters: 3.4% in Q3 2025, 3.4% in Q4 2025, 4.8% in Q1 2026, and 7.8% in Q2 2026.
Net income also stayed positive every quarter from Q3 2025 through Q2 2026, with net income attributable to owners reaching KRW 3.20 billion in Q2 2026.
Cumulative net income attributable to owners over the most recent four quarters (Q3 2025 through Q2 2026) totaled roughly KRW 9.08 billion, already well above the full-year 2025 net income of KRW 2.02 billion.
This improvement is attributed mainly to expanded supply of secondary-battery tapes and increased production capacity in the electronic materials segment.
That said, the double-digit operating margin seen in 2022 has not yet been recovered, and the durability of this improvement trend will need to be confirmed through upcoming quarterly results.
The electronic-materials tape industry that Tapex operates in spans multiple downstream sectors—secondary batteries, semiconductors, and displays—so demand moves in layered patterns depending on the cycle of each end market.
Even amid a recent slowdown (chasm) in electric-vehicle demand, growth in the energy storage system (ESS) market has partly offset weaker demand for mid-to-large secondary-battery tapes.
One industry estimate places the global semiconductor tape market at roughly USD 1.25 billion in 2026, growing to about USD 1.93 billion by 2035 at a compound annual growth rate of around 5%, suggesting the sector is in a moderate long-term growth phase.
In terms of competitive positioning, Tapex is understood to have long held the top market share domestically in small-format secondary-battery tapes, while competing with specialized tape makers overseas, including in Japan.
Parent company Hansol Chemical has been expanding across semiconductor and battery materials more broadly, positioning Tapex as one pillar of the group's electronic-materials portfolio.
However, both the battery and semiconductor industries remain sensitive to the global economic cycle, customers' capital-investment cycles, and policy variables such as tariffs and subsidy schemes, so ongoing monitoring of overall supply-demand conditions is warranted.
According to company disclosures and related data, consolidated revenue in the first quarter of 2026 rose 24.3% year over year, with both operating profit and net income turning positive.
This has been explained as a result of the electronic materials segment preemptively securing new production sites and capacity while expanding supply of secondary-battery tapes to global battery and automotive manufacturers.
The company is reported to be pursuing expansion into European and North American markets along with growth in UV-tape sales, leaving regional diversification and product-mix improvement as variables for future growth.
The consumer goods segment has long maintained a stable domestic market position in food-packaging film, and is expected to continue cushioning volatility in the electronic materials segment's earnings.
Parent company Hansol Chemical has also cited increasing demand from semiconductor miniaturization and customer capacity expansions, along with growing secondary-battery materials demand tied to EV and ESS growth, as drivers of its own performance—suggesting that group-wide investment in electronic materials could provide a favorable environment for Tapex as well.
That said, because the secondary-battery industry remains sensitive to global economic cycles and subsidy policy, how consistently this recovery trend holds up on a quarterly basis will require continued monitoring.
The share price appears to trade at a discount to net asset value, while on a most-recent-four-quarter earnings basis it sits closer to the upper end of the trading-multiple range seen over the past several years, leaving room for differing views on how much of the earnings recovery is already reflected in the price.
The company appears to have maintained annual cash dividends, though the payout ratio and amount have varied with each year's net income level.
Given the pattern of high profitability in 2022, a sharp earnings contraction through 2023–2024, and a gradual quarterly earnings recovery from 2025 onward, the multiples at which the stock currently trades likely reflect the recent recovery-phase results rather than the earlier peak-year performance.
Relative to net assets, the stock continues to trade at a discount, and how much the earnings improvement translates into equity-based profitability metrics could be a factor influencing any future re-rating.
Investors may wish to track both the continuation of quarterly operating-margin improvement and how these valuation metrics evolve alongside it.
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 2026-08-21
The operating margin rose for five consecutive quarters, from 1.5% in Q2 2025 to 7.8% in Q2 2026. Over the same period, net income attributable to owners swung from a loss to a profit of KRW 3.20 billion. This multi-quarter pattern could be read as more than a one-off rebound.
Tapex has a diversified product lineup spanning secondary-battery tapes, semiconductor and display process tapes, and automotive tapes. Even during the EV demand slowdown, demand for mid-to-large tapes for ESS applications has partly compensated. Exposure across multiple downstream industries can help cushion the impact of a downturn in any single sector.
Largest shareholder Hansol Chemical, together with related parties, holds roughly 44.8% of shares, giving the company a relatively stable ownership structure.
The Uniwrap-branded food packaging film business has long held its position in the domestic market, helping to buffer volatility in the electronic materials segment's results.
Operating margin fell sharply from 14.0% (operating profit KRW 25.45 billion) in 2022 to just 1.1% (KRW 1.43 billion) in 2024. While a recovery has emerged since 2025, a substantial gap versus 2022 levels remains, and whether the recovery will extend back to those earlier levels is not yet confirmed.
The battery and semiconductor industries are sensitive to the global economic cycle, the capital-investment cycles of automakers and battery makers, and policy variables such as subsidies and tariffs. If the EV demand chasm persists, the recovery in secondary-battery tape demand could slow more than expected.
As a relatively small-cap stock, trading volume can be limited and analyst coverage is not extensive. This can make it harder for investors to obtain up-to-date information and may amplify price volatility.
If the slowdown in EV demand persists or ESS demand growth falls short of expectations, the recovery in the secondary-battery tape segment could stall again. Reduced capital investment by semiconductor and display customers could also negatively affect related revenue.
Tape manufacturing requires various chemical raw materials and film substrates, so raw material price swings directly affect costs. Given the presence of overseas sales and exports, exchange-rate fluctuations are also a factor that can affect profitability.
As a subsidiary of Hansol Chemical, Tapex can be affected by the group's business strategy and resource-allocation decisions. Given that Hansol Chemical's largest shareholder has recently changed, the potential impact of shifts in group governance on subsidiary management also warrants attention.
Check the preliminary Q3 2026 earnings disclosure — the key point to watch is whether the five-quarter streak of operating margin improvement continues.
Monitoring order and capacity-expansion trends from global battery makers and automakers for secondary-battery and ESS applications will help gauge order momentum in the electronic materials segment.
Check the full-year earnings results and dividend decision disclosure to assess the extent of the 2026 earnings recovery and any change in shareholder-return policy.
It is worth tracking progress on entry into the European and North American UV-tape markets and any new customer or vendor registrations for semiconductor OCA tape.
Tapex saw earnings contract sharply after peaking in 2022, but has entered a recovery phase since the second half of 2025, with operating margin improving for five consecutive quarters.
Net income attributable to owners, which was in loss in Q2 2025, turned to a profit of KRW 3.20 billion in Q2 2026, and cumulative net income over the most recent four quarters already exceeds the full-year 2025 net income figure.
The business structure, split between electronic materials (tapes for batteries, semiconductors, and displays) and consumer goods (food packaging film), operates in a complementary manner, and the company benefits from a relatively stable ownership structure alongside parent Hansol Chemical.
That said, the double-digit operating margin seen in 2022 has not yet been recovered, and given that the battery and semiconductor industries remain sensitive to global economic conditions and policy variables, the durability of this recovery still needs to be confirmed.
Valuation shows a mixed picture—trading at a discount relative to net assets while sitting closer to the upper end of past ranges on a recent-earnings basis—leaving room for differing interpretations depending on the metric used.
Upcoming quarterly results and order trends in downstream industries are likely to be the key variables for judging the path ahead.
Report written 2026-09-05 · Data as of 2026-09-04
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