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
MEKICS has posted operating profit for three consecutive quarters since late 2025, yet on an annual basis the company has not yet escaped its multi-year loss structure.
Operating profit for three straight quarters from 4Q2025 to 2Q2026, with gradual quarterly revenue growth
Korea's only domestic ventilator manufacturer, exporting to about 70 countries with local units in China, India, and Turkey
High-end respiratory therapy device OmniOx HFT-750U has secured US FDA approval and Japan PMDA registration, laying groundwork for advanced-market entry
Targeting a 3Q2026 launch of an edge-AI respiratory therapy navigation feature developed with DeepMatrix
Cumulative losses from 2022 to 2024 sharply reduced total equity, and the company still posted a net loss on an annual basis in 2025
Founded in 1998 and listed on KOSDAQ in 2015, MEKICS is a critical-care medical device manufacturer that designs, produces, and sells ventilators and patient monitoring devices essential to emergency rooms and intensive care units.
The company is Korea's only domestic manufacturer capable of producing ventilators in-house, a capability that underpinned the country's first commercialized ventilator.
As of the first quarter of 2023, ventilators accounted for 62.2% of revenue, other products such as oxygen saturation monitors made up 19.2%, ventilator consumables and merchandise contributed 13.6%, and patient monitoring devices represented 5.0%.
The product lineup has expanded around a 'respiratory therapy device' concept that integrates high-flow oxygen therapy, non-invasive ventilation, and critical-care ventilation technologies onto a single platform, headlined by the HFT series and the high-end OmniOx brand.
Overseas, the company exports to roughly 70 countries including emerging markets centered on the BRICs, operates a China subsidiary, Yantai Sejong Medical Devices, for local approvals and supply, and has established India and Turkey units to pursue direct sales and local production.
More recently, the OmniOx HFT-750U high-performance respiratory therapy device obtained US FDA approval and Japan PMDA registration, providing a foothold in advanced markets.
The company runs a two-track strategy, developing compact, integrated management models for developed markets where medical labor costs are high, and hybrid models that can run without a gas supply system for emerging markets with limited infrastructure.
On the competitive front, the sharp post-pandemic market contraction led some large global medical device makers to scale back or exit the ventilator business, leaving MEKICS room to defend its position in a relatively narrower competitive field given its domestic production base and multi-country certifications.
| Quarter | Revenue | Operating profit | Op. margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025Q2 | ₩2.4B | -₩1.7B | −71.4% |
| 2025Q3 | ₩2.8B | -₩300M | −10.7% |
| 2025Q4 | ₩3.2B | ₩300M | 8.2% |
| 2026Q1 | ₩3.9B | ₩400M | 9.4% |
| 2026Q2 | ₩3.9B | ₩200M | 4.6% |
| Year | Revenue | Operating profit | Net income (parent) | Op. margin | ROE | Debt-to-equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | ₩28.8B | -₩1.8B | -₩2.7B | −6.2% | −4.0% | 27.8% |
| 2023 | ₩13.3B | -₩13.9B | -₩16.1B | −104.6% | −32.4% | 37.9% |
| 2024 | ₩11.4B | -₩9.5B | -₩10.3B | −83.5% | −26.2% | 51.4% |
| 2025 | ₩11.3B | -₩2.8B | -₩2.7B | −24.7% | −7.4% | 53.5% |
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
MEKICS's annual revenue fell from KRW 28.75 billion in 2022 to KRW 13.26 billion in 2023, KRW 11.37 billion in 2024, and KRW 11.29 billion in 2025, dropping sharply after the pandemic-era base effect faded before flattening over the past two years.
Operating losses widened from KRW 1.77 billion (operating margin -6.2%) in 2022 to KRW 13.87 billion (-104.6%) in 2023, a jump attributable to the steep revenue decline combined with inventory- and asset-related charges.
Losses persisted in 2024 at KRW 9.49 billion (-83.5%), but in 2025 the operating loss narrowed markedly to KRW 2.79 billion (-24.7%), suggesting the company was passing through a trough.
The quarterly pattern is even more pronounced: after a weak 2Q2025 with revenue of KRW 2.36 billion and an operating loss of KRW 1.69 billion, the loss narrowed to KRW 0.30 billion in 3Q2025 on revenue of KRW 2.78 billion, before the company swung to a quarterly operating profit of KRW 0.26 billion on revenue of KRW 3.23 billion in 4Q2025.
That trend continued into 2026, with operating profit of KRW 0.37 billion on revenue of KRW 3.88 billion in 1Q2026 and KRW 0.18 billion on revenue of KRW 3.86 billion in 2Q2026, marking three consecutive quarters of operating profit.
Net income attributable to owners also stayed positive across 4Q2025 (KRW 0.34 billion), 1Q2026 (KRW 0.59 billion), and 2Q2026 (KRW 0.24 billion).
Still, on a full-year basis the 2025 net loss attributable to owners remained around KRW 2.7 billion, and owners' equity shrank from KRW 67.6 billion in 2022 to KRW 36.6 billion in 2025, leaving a visible mark from the earlier large losses on the capital structure.
Operating cash flow also swung from a net inflow of KRW 5.74 billion in 2022 to net outflows in each of 2023 through 2025, indicating that the recent earnings improvement has not yet fully translated into a recovery in cash generation.
The global ventilator market was estimated at about USD 8.21 billion as of 2025, with North America accounting for 59.4%, or roughly USD 4.87 billion.
North America is seen as a market with room for new equipment purchases, given its high healthcare spending and developed ICU infrastructure that drives demand for high-performance devices, even though ventilator-equipped ICU beds number only about 20.5 per 100,000 population.
That said, the industry as a whole has moved through a period of delayed recovery driven by post-pandemic ventilator oversupply that slowed global market growth, price competition among rivals, and, domestically, a prolonged standoff between doctors and the government.
Against this backdrop, MEKICS has launched a full push into the North American respiratory therapy device market, estimated at roughly KRW 1 trillion as of 2026, signing an exclusive agreement with a top-tier partner that dominates local consumables distribution to tackle the high entry barriers of the US market.
With a number of competitors having scaled back or exited the ventilator business after the pandemic, MEKICS's domestic in-house production base and multi-country certifications including US FDA and Japan PMDA approvals stand out as relative points of differentiation.
Even so, it remains premature to conclude the industry has entered a full recovery phase, as price competition and region-specific regulatory barriers continue to determine the pace of market entry.
The company has said it plans to add AI functionality to its recently launched general-purpose ventilator MV50 and its critical-care ventilators, targeting a launch within the third quarter of 2026, based on a memorandum of understanding with medical AI startup DeepMatrix under which a dosing-recommendation program trained on Seoul National University Hospital medical records will be licensed and embedded in its devices.
The company has emphasized that because ICU equipment cannot easily connect to external servers for security reasons, it intends to lead the market with an 'edge AI' approach that embeds AI directly on the device.
Preparations for entering the Japanese market are also said to be proceeding smoothly, with the company stating that it has completed both PMDA approval and final quality verification by its local partner, putting it on the verge of beginning supply.
In Japan, the company plans to rely on its local partner for equipment distribution while supplying replacement consumables directly, aiming to secure both equipment penetration and a recurring revenue base.
In the US, given the high entry barriers, the company has stated its goal of leveraging its exclusive agreement with a top-tier partner that controls local consumables distribution to offer a new alternative to existing high-flow treatment protocols.
The company also participated in the KIMES 2026 exhibition in March, stating it would use its roughly 70-country export track record to seek new buyers in strategic markets such as the Middle East and Latin America.
The pace and scale at which these initiatives translate into actual revenue will need to be confirmed sequentially through future quarterly disclosures.
MEKICS's equity base has steadily eroded since 2022 due to a string of large net losses, and the shares currently trade below the company's net asset value per share.
While the shift to operating profit for three consecutive quarters has improved the earnings picture, the company still posted a net loss on an annual basis, so there is no clear long-term valuation band to reference based on current earnings.
The company has not paid a dividend recently, which limits any appeal from a dividend yield perspective.
Understanding the current price level therefore calls for tracking whether the quarterly turnaround to profit proves durable on a full-year basis and whether overseas new-market revenue actually materializes, rather than drawing a firm conclusion about whether the shares are cheap or expensive.
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
Revenue grew to a range of KRW 3.2-3.9 billion from 4Q2025 through 2Q2026, with operating profit recorded for three consecutive quarters. This marks a notable improvement compared to the large-loss period of 2023-2024.
Still, the company remains in a net loss on an annual basis, making it important to watch whether this streak extends beyond four quarters.
The high-end OmniOx HFT-750U has completed US FDA approval and Japan PMDA registration, positioning the company for advanced-market entry.
North America was the largest global ventilator market as of 2025, at 59.4% of the total, and the company has also signed an exclusive agreement with a partner that controls local consumables distribution.
In Japan, PMDA approval and partner quality verification are complete, putting the company on the verge of beginning supply.
Through collaboration with DeepMatrix, the company plans to license and embed an AI dosing-recommendation feature in critical-care ventilators, targeting a launch within the third quarter of 2026.
Notably, it has chosen an edge-AI approach that embeds AI directly on the device without server connectivity, suited to security-constrained ICU environments. The company is also pursuing a platform strategy that integrates high-flow oxygen therapy, non-invasive ventilation, and critical-care ventilation technologies.
Owners' equity fell from KRW 67.6 billion in 2022 to KRW 36.6 billion in 2025, the result of net losses of KRW 16.1 billion in 2023 and KRW 10.3 billion in 2024. Even with the recent earnings improvement, rebuilding the capital base eroded during this period will take time.
Global market growth has slowed following post-pandemic ventilator oversupply, with price competition among rivals continuing. Domestically, a prolonged standoff between doctors and the government has affected hospitals' investment capacity, delaying market recovery.
Revenue declining from KRW 28.8 billion in 2022 to about KRW 11.3 billion in 2025 and then flattening reflects this environment.
While US and Japan certifications and partner agreements are in place, exactly when and how much actual local revenue will be reflected has not yet been confirmed through disclosure.
Plans such as embedding the AI feature or beginning Japan supply are, as of the company's statements, still targets, and delays cannot be ruled out. Given the high regulatory bar in the US market, establishing a foothold there could take longer than expected.
Total equity shrank sharply due to large net losses in 2023-2024, and operating cash flow posted net outflows for three consecutive years from 2023 to 2025. Although recent quarters have been profitable, it remains necessary to continue monitoring whether both annual earnings and cash generation recover together.
The US FDA is reported to have recently tightened technical and clinical requirements for respiratory-related devices. New products or added AI features may require further certification or review, and delays in country-specific approval processes could affect market-entry timelines.
Ventilator demand has historically been sensitive to external variables such as the spread of infectious diseases. As seen after the pandemic ended, a sharp drop in demand or a shift in competitors' pricing policies could again destabilize revenue and profitability.
It needs to be confirmed whether the AI respiratory therapy navigation feature developed with DeepMatrix launches as planned within the third quarter.
This is the point to check whether revenue and operating profit extend the profit streak to four consecutive quarters and whether the overseas revenue mix has shifted.
Whether Japan supply actually begins and the scale of initial volume needs to be checked, given that PMDA registration and partner quality verification have reportedly already been completed.
The key items to confirm are whether the company turns profitable on a full-year basis and whether revenue from the exclusive North American distribution agreement actually materializes.
Having passed through a large-loss phase that began in 2022, MEKICS posted operating profit for three consecutive quarters from 4Q2025 through 2Q2026, marking a notable improvement in its earnings structure.
On an annual basis, however, the company still recorded a net loss attributable to owners in 2025, and both its capital base—thinned by cumulative losses—and its operating cash flow, which posted net outflows for three straight years, have not yet fully recovered.
Building on US FDA approval and Japan PMDA registration, the company is preparing to enter advanced markets such as North America and Japan, while also pursuing technological differentiation through an AI-based respiratory therapy navigation feature slated for launch within the third quarter.
The pace and scale at which these plans translate into actual revenue and profit will need to be confirmed sequentially through future quarterly results and disclosures.
On the industry side, given the ongoing oversupply and price competition since the pandemic, it remains premature to conclude that a full recovery has taken hold.
Ultimately, gauging whether the recent quarterly turnaround is a temporary phenomenon or a structural improvement will require watching both full-year earnings and the actual materialization of overseas new-market revenue.
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.