PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are calculated in-house from the last 4 quarters (2025Q3–2026Q2) · Dividend yield is based on ₩150 per share · Prices as of the 2026-10-02 close
Margin recovery centered on barrier coating film is now clear, while expanding sample supply of perovskite solar cell barrier film is being tested as the next growth axis.
The 2025 operating margin recovered to 17.4% from a loss (-7.9%) in 2023, and the improving trend continued into the first half of 2026.
Quarterly revenue and profit swing widely — operating profit fell from KRW 2.61bn in Q3 2025 to KRW 0.47bn in Q4 2025, then rebounded to KRW 3.6bn in Q2 2026.
The core business is barrier coating film for electronic shelf labels (ESL), and the company has said it has supplied perovskite and organic solar cell barrier film samples to about 30 companies including firms in Japan and China.
In June 2026 the company announced a KRW 5.5bn equipment investment plan for barrier film, preparing to expand production capacity.
Annual revenue stayed roughly flat from KRW 35.3bn in 2022 to KRW 34.6bn in 2025, while the profit structure improved — profitability gains, more than growth, define recent results.
Founded in 2000 and listed on KOSDAQ in 2008, i-Components is a materials company focused on flat-panel display and solar components, with headquarters and production facilities in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.
Its core coating segment produces barrier coating film that blocks moisture and oxygen, primarily used in electronic shelf label (ESL) panels. Its extrusion segment produces optical films such as light-guide-plate film, PC film, and PMMA film supplied to domestic and overseas IT makers.
Based on Q2 2026 revenue, the COATED (COP, PET) product line accounted for roughly 82% of sales, with PC at 9%, COATED (PC, PMMA) at 7%, and PMMA at 1%.
ESL customers include global ESL panel makers such as China's BOE, and the company is understood to have gained share in a barrier film segment where U.S.-based 3M had previously been dominant.
More recently, the company has been building out solar cell barrier film as a new growth axis, having signed a supply contract with a European flexible solar cell company and, in 2026, supplied perovskite solar cell barrier film samples to companies based in Japan and China.
The barrier film market includes global materials competitors such as 3M and Mitsubishi, positioning the company as a niche supplier centered on specific applications such as ESL and solar cells.
While the customer and application base is diversifying, the business structure still appears concentrated around a limited set of customers and product lines.
| Quarter | Revenue | Operating profit | Op. margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025Q2 | ₩8.7B | ₩2B | 23.4% |
| 2025Q3 | ₩10.3B | ₩2.6B | 25.2% |
| 2025Q4 | ₩6.8B | ₩500M | 7.0% |
| 2026Q1 | ₩9.7B | ₩1.7B | 17.0% |
| 2026Q2 | ₩11.9B | ₩3.6B | 30.3% |
| Year | Revenue | Operating profit | Net income (parent) | Op. margin | ROE | Debt-to-equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | ₩35.3B | ₩2.9B | ₩3.2B | 8.3% | 9.3% | 60.8% |
| 2023 | ₩27.3B | -₩2.1B | -₩2.7B | −7.9% | −7.4% | 60.5% |
| 2024 | ₩37.1B | ₩2.6B | ₩3.3B | 7.0% | 8.4% | 47.9% |
| 2025 | ₩34.6B | ₩6B | ₩6B | 17.4% | 13.5% | 34.2% |
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
On an annual basis, revenue was KRW 35.3bn with operating profit of KRW 2.9bn (8.3% margin) in 2022, before swinging to a loss in 2023 with revenue of KRW 27.3bn and an operating loss of KRW 2.15bn (-7.9% margin).
The company returned to profit in 2024 with revenue of KRW 37.1bn and operating profit of KRW 2.6bn (7.0%), and margins expanded sharply in 2025 to revenue of KRW 34.6bn and operating profit of KRW 6.04bn (17.4%).
Net income attributable to owners also recovered, from a loss of KRW 2.69bn in 2023 to KRW 3.29bn in 2024 and KRW 6.01bn in 2025.
Quarterly results showed strength in Q2 2025 (revenue KRW 8.74bn, operating profit KRW 2.04bn) and Q3 2025 (revenue KRW 10.34bn, operating profit KRW 2.61bn), before a sharp slowdown in Q4 2025 to revenue of KRW 6.82bn and operating profit of just KRW 0.47bn.
In 2026, results recovered in Q1 (revenue KRW 9.74bn, operating profit KRW 1.66bn) and reached a quarterly high in Q2 (revenue KRW 11.86bn, operating profit KRW 3.60bn).
Net income exceeded operating profit in several quarters — for example Q3 2025 operating profit of KRW 2.61bn versus owner net income of KRW 3.02bn, and Q2 2026 operating profit of KRW 3.60bn versus net income of KRW 4.88bn — suggesting a contribution from non-operating items in those periods.
Cumulative owner net income over the most recent four quarters (Q3 2025 through Q2 2026) reached KRW 10.46bn, exceeding the full-year 2025 figure of KRW 6.01bn and indicating a period of improved profitability relative to prior years.
Overall, the improvement in operating margin (from -7.9% in 2023 to 17.4% in 2025) appears to be the central driver of the earnings change, more so than top-line revenue growth.
The ESL market, the company's primary end market, has grown steadily on the back of retailers' labor cost savings and real-time price management needs, with global ESL panel makers including SES-imagotag (which acquired BOE's ESL business in 2018), Pricer, and Solum.
Barrier film is a particularly important material in E-paper-based ESL panels, and the company is understood to have gained a foothold in an application area where U.S.-based 3M had previously been dominant.
In solar applications, crystalline silicon still accounts for the vast majority of the market, but non-silicon technologies such as organic, thin-film, and perovskite solar cells are gradually being commercialized, opening new demand for barrier film as a glass-substitute material.
Because perovskite is vulnerable to moisture, oxygen, and heat, barrier film plays a central role in its commercialization, meaning demand in this application will hinge on the pace of that commercialization.
In the competitive landscape, global materials majors such as 3M and Mitsubishi still hold strong positions, and the company appears to be consolidating its position as a specialized supplier centered on specific applications.
Although the company is classified under the KOSDAQ semiconductor sector, its actual revenue composition is closer to display and solar materials, meaning its cycle is likely more closely tied to display component and renewable energy material demand than to the semiconductor cycle.
In June 2026 the company announced a KRW 5.5bn equipment investment plan related to barrier film, positioning itself to expand capacity in anticipation of ESL and solar cell demand.
In August 2026 it disclosed that it had supplied perovskite solar cell barrier film samples to solar-related companies in Japan and China, stating it has now supplied such samples to roughly 30 companies in total.
However, these remain at the sample-supply stage, and the timing and scale of any conversion into full production orders have not been confirmed.
The core ESL barrier film business appears to continue supplying existing customers such as BOE, and the earlier supply contract with a European flexible solar cell maker remains part of the revenue base.
Given the recurring pattern seen in Q4 2025, where margins fell sharply when orders were not concentrated in that quarter, future quarterly results are likely to continue showing significant variation depending on the timing of customer orders.
No official company revenue or profit guidance has been confirmed, so the future earnings trajectory is likely to depend on whether the new solar application converts sample supply into orders and on the stability of existing ESL volumes.
The current share price trades at a level close to the company's net asset value, suggesting neither a large premium nor a large discount to book value at present.
On the earnings side, the swing from a loss in 2023 to profitability in 2024-2025, with further profitability improvement over the most recent four quarters, means the baseline for valuation judgment has shifted compared with the loss-making period.
The company appears to have paid modest annual cash dividends, and the more relevant point going forward may be whether improved earnings expand dividend capacity rather than the absolute dividend level itself.
Given the small market capitalization and limited liquidity typical of a small-cap stock, simple comparisons of valuation multiples against sector averages should be approached with caution.
Because the progress of the new solar cell barrier film business could change the basis on which the market assigns valuation, that progress is worth monitoring alongside the core business.
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
Operating margin steadily improved from -7.9% in 2023 to 7.0% in 2024 and 17.4% in 2025, expanding further into the 30% range in Q2 2026. Because this margin recovery has appeared across multiple quarters rather than a single one-off period, it can be read as a signal of structural improvement in the business.
The fact that cumulative net income over the most recent four quarters exceeded the prior full-year figure supports this trend.
As non-silicon solar cells such as perovskite and organic types move toward commercialization, new applications for barrier film are opening up. Following an existing supply contract with a European flexible solar cell maker, the company said it also supplied samples to companies in Japan and China in 2026.
A track record of sample supply to roughly 30 companies could become a foundation for application diversification if it converts into formal orders.
By securing global panel makers as customers in the electronic shelf label (ESL) market, the company has a structural revenue base tied to retailers' digital transformation demand. Barrier film is considered a key material in E-paper-based ESL panels, implying relatively low technology substitution risk. This can allow the existing business to serve a cash-flow-supporting role even as new businesses expand.
Operating profit swung sharply from KRW 2.61bn in Q3 2025 down to KRW 0.47bn in Q4 2025, then back up to KRW 1.66bn in Q1 2026 and KRW 3.60bn in Q2 2026. This suggests a business structure where results are heavily influenced by the order timing of specific customers, making a stable trend difficult to project.
Annual revenue showed little change over three years, from KRW 35.3bn in 2022 to KRW 34.6bn in 2025, and actually declined from KRW 37.1bn in 2024 to KRW 34.6bn in 2025.
The recent earnings improvement appears to have come more from cost and expense management than from revenue expansion, meaning the durability of margin gains could be tested if top-line growth does not resume.
The perovskite solar cell barrier film business remains at the stage of supplying samples to roughly 30 companies, with no formal mass-production contracts or concrete revenue scale yet disclosed.
Solar cells overall are still dominated by crystalline silicon, so the pace of commercialization for non-silicon technologies could turn out slower than expected, creating a gap if new-business expectations are priced in ahead of actual order conversion.
ESL barrier film revenue appears concentrated among a small number of global panel makers such as BOE, meaning a reduction in orders or a change in contract terms from a specific customer could have an immediate impact on results.
The new solar business is also spread across many customers still at the sample stage, so its revenue contribution remains unverified.
Fluctuations in the prices of resin and other raw materials used in film production, along with foreign exchange movements, can directly affect the cost structure. Some of the large swings seen in quarterly operating margin may be influenced by these cost variables.
With a small market capitalization and roughly 7.07 million shares outstanding, the stock's small-cap characteristics mean price volatility can be amplified by trading volume, raising the possibility of price moves driven by supply-and-demand factors unrelated to earnings.
The expected timing for the preliminary Q3 2026 earnings disclosure; worth checking the trend versus the year-earlier quarter (Q3 2025 operating profit of KRW 2.61bn) and whether the strong Q2 2026 momentum continues.
Worth monitoring the progress and startup timing of the KRW 5.5bn barrier film equipment investment announced in June 2026.
Worth checking whether the perovskite solar cell barrier film samples supplied to companies in Japan, China, and elsewhere convert into formal mass-production orders, and if so, the scale and timing of that conversion.
The expected timing for the Q4 and full-year 2026 earnings disclosure; worth watching whether the seasonal margin decline seen in Q4 2025 repeats.
i-Components turned from a loss in 2023 to profitability in 2024-2025 and has continued to improve its operating margin through the first half of 2026, with cumulative net income over the most recent four quarters exceeding the prior full-year figure.
However, quarterly results show very large swings, and annual revenue itself has been largely flat since 2022, indicating that the recent earnings improvement has come more from margin management than from top-line expansion.
The new perovskite solar cell barrier film business remains at the stage of supplying samples to roughly 30 companies, with the timing and scale of any conversion into formal orders still unconfirmed.
The existing ESL barrier film business appears to maintain stable demand anchored by global customers such as BOE, though the structure still relies heavily on a limited number of customers. The stock's small market capitalization and limited liquidity are also worth factoring in.
Going forward, the Q3 earnings release, the startup timing of the equipment investment, and whether the new business converts into formal orders will likely be the key items to watch.
Report written 2026-09-05 · Data as of 2026-09-04
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