L&F

L&F produces cathode active materials, the core component of lithium-ion batteries, with high-nickel NCM and NCMA products accounting for the overwhelming share of revenue.

The company is credited with being the first in the world to mass-produce composite high-nickel cathode material with nickel content above 95%, cementing its position in the premium EV market.

A blended polycrystalline and single-crystal technology addresses structural collapse and gas generation during charge-discharge cycles, while cobalt content below 5% targets both cost and environmental goals.

Its customer structure runs through Korean battery cell makers to global automakers, and while securing top-tier customers such as Tesla has been a strength, concentration on a single account has been flagged as a weakness, with earnings swinging sharply whenever downstream demand wobbled.

In 2024 the company became the first globally to mass-produce NCMA95 for the 46-phi form factor and signed a seven-year, 300,000-ton long-term high-nickel cathode supply contract with SK On.

The second pillar is LFP: wholly owned subsidiary L&F Plus built a plant on roughly 100,000 square meters in the second-phase national industrial complex in Guji, Dalseong, Daegu, with KRW 338.2 billion to be invested at the 60,000-ton scale.

The flagship product is high-density third-generation LFP (press density above 2.50 g/cc), aiming at higher-value segments through energy density above conventional LFP.

Domestically the competitive setup is a portfolio race with EcoPro BM, POSCO Future M and LG Chem, each pursuing or expanding both high-nickel and LFP strategies.

On costs, the roadmap includes internalizing iron phosphate precursor technology, where Chinese dependence is high, alongside development of a precursor-free process to improve supply chain stability.

The earnings trajectory has been violent.

From 2022 revenue of KRW 3,887.3 billion and operating profit of KRW 266.3 billion (6.9% margin), the company swung to a KRW 222.3 billion operating loss in 2023 even on revenue of KRW 4,644.1 billion, then saw revenue collapse to KRW 1,907.5 billion in 2024 with an operating loss of KRW 558.7 billion (-29.3% margin).

In 2025 revenue recovered modestly to KRW 2,154.9 billion and the operating loss narrowed to KRW 156.8 billion, yet net loss attributable to owners widened to KRW 533.5 billion and operating cash flow was an outflow of KRW 29.2 billion.

Quarterly, the trough was the second quarter of 2025 with revenue of KRW 520.1 billion and an operating loss of KRW 121.2 billion; since then operating profit ran KRW 22.1 billion in the third quarter of 2025, KRW 82.5 billion in the fourth, KRW 117.3 billion in the first quarter of 2026 and KRW 20.8 billion in the second, four consecutive quarters in the black.

The quality of those profits, however, is uneven. KB Securities said in an early-May 2026 report that first-quarter results included a KRW 92.6 billion reversal of inventory valuation losses on higher lithium carbonate prices and a weaker won, following KRW 77.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025.

On the sharp sequential drop in second-quarter 2026 operating profit, the company said start-up costs for the new business and inventory valuation losses were booked as one-off items, and that excluding them the NCM cathode business margin improved to the mid single digits.

Top-line growth reflected a record quarterly shipment volume combined with higher selling prices on recovering metal prices, with second-quarter 2026 revenue up 70.2% year on year (per the preliminary, unaudited disclosure of August 6, 2026).

The bottom line is still mid-repair: net losses attributable to owners of KRW 118.2 billion in the third quarter of 2025, KRW 192.5 billion in the fourth and KRW 65.4 billion in the first quarter of 2026 gave way to a KRW 53.4 billion profit in the second quarter of 2026, while the last four quarters combined (third quarter 2025 through second quarter 2026) show roughly KRW 2,894.6 billion of revenue, KRW 242.7 billion of operating profit and a KRW 322.7 billion net loss attributable to owners.

Management attributed the fourth-quarter 2025 net loss despite KRW 82.4 billion of operating profit to non-cash accounting charges, including fair-value losses on derivatives embedded in existing exchangeable bonds and the warrant bonds.

Equity stood at KRW 676.8 billion at the end of 2025 against liabilities of KRW 2,457.3 billion, a debt-to-equity ratio of 363.1%.

The cathode cycle today looks less like an EV recovery and more like an ESS-led one.

In a May 2026 note, Shinhan Securities Investment said second-half conditions were likely to improve on a European EV recovery and North American ESS expansion, projecting the US ESS market to grow from 90 GWh in 2025 to 160 GWh by 2030 on AI data center power demand.

The same material noted that the US is reducing Chinese dependence through IRA, FEOC and OBBBA rules, with Chinese ESS batteries facing both tariffs and subsidy limits while projects meeting domestic content requirements can qualify for investment tax credits. The raw material cycle has also turned.

Citing Korea Mine Rehabilitation and Mineral Resources Corp data, an April 2026 report put lithium at USD 20.21 per kilogram on April 24, about 43% above January. Because lithium price gains pass into cathode selling prices with a lag, they have been cited as grounds for a profitability recovery among materials makers.

Still, Chinese lithium carbonate fell to about CNY 157,000 per ton in June, below roughly CNY 200,000 in May, with speculation about restart of a CATL mine cited as the reason.

As a proxy for relative positioning, NCM exports from the Daegu region were about 6,208 tons in February 2026, roughly 59% of the national total, and the market treats Daegu, home to the company's main plants, as an indicator of shipment trends.

In LFP, Chinese players effectively dominate the low-cost segment with large capacity and accumulated technology, leaving price competition a persistent burden. The prevailing view is that recovery will be differentiated by region and product rather than broad-based.

Management frames the path as a two-track strategy across NCM and LFP. On its February 2026 open conference call, the company guided to about 20% year-on-year growth in 2026 shipments led by high-nickel products, with 46-phi products at roughly 6% of annual volume and a fuller ramp from 2027.

With the second-quarter results, it said ultra high-nickel sole-source supply continues while a new single-crystal high-nickel project for a North American customer begins, so third-quarter shipments should set another record, and full-year NCM volume should far exceed the original plan. The LFP schedule is specific.

Mass production starts at a 30,000-ton annual rate late in the third quarter, building in stages to 60,000 tons by the first half of 2027, sized to secured medium- to long-term North American ESS volume.

Sample shipments to multiple customers are complete, full LFP supply for North American ESS begins from late in the third quarter, and the company expects shipments above 50,000 tons in 2027. The order base is documented.

A contract disclosed on March 23, 2026 covers KRW 1.6 trillion of LFP cathode material to Samsung SDI in the United States over three years through December 31, 2029, for ESS LFP batteries at the StarPlus Energy plant in Indiana.

On July 29, 2026 it signed a medium- to long-term LFP supply contract with US-based Coreshell Technologies, citing a non-Chinese supply chain able to meet US origin and supply-chain rules including OBBB and defense procurement standards.

Among brokerages, Meritz Securities projected in an August 2026 report 2026 consolidated revenue of KRW 3,522.6 billion and operating profit of KRW 208.9 billion, implying 63.5% revenue growth and a swing to operating profit. A June 2026 report put the FnGuide consensus 2026 operating profit estimate at KRW 228.2 billion.