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
Sonics has grown revenue for consecutive years while operating losses have also widened, and the company is broadening its business scope through a supply deal with China's Newsonic and participation in a national photonic AI semiconductor research project.
2025 revenue rose year-on-year to KRW 18.2bn, but the operating loss widened to KRW 6.66bn
2Q26 revenue of KRW 5.87bn was the highest in the past five quarters, with the operating loss narrowing from the prior quarter
Sonics signed a Si-SAW foundry supply agreement with China's Newsonic, entering the Chinese-language smartphone supply chain
Sonics joined a KAIST-led national R&D project on next-generation photonic AI semiconductors as a co-research institution
Equity has declined for three straight years since 2023, while the debt ratio has risen into the 50% range
Founded in October 2000, Sonics is a specialized foundry for RF (radio frequency) filters that shifted its business structure toward foundry services for RF front-end module filters as 5G smartphones demanded higher performance.
Since 2017 the company has jointly developed TF-SAW, a silicon-wafer-based piezoelectric semiconductor, with global telecom-chip customers, and it maintains more than 20 fabless telecom-chip customer relationships across the United States and Greater China.
The company positions itself as the world's only 4-inch/6-inch filter foundry, supplying dedicated foundry services to a leading global telecom chip maker in the handset segment while also serving non-handset network and automotive-electronics foundry demand.
Alongside its foundry business, Sonics also manufactures and sells RF filters for industrial wireless communication devices under its own brand.
In February 2026 the company signed a Si-SAW (Silicon Surface Acoustic Wave) foundry supply agreement and strategic partnership with China's fabless firm Newsonic, entering the supply chain of a Tier-1 Chinese smartphone maker.
Under this agreement Sonics manufactures high-performance Si-SAW wafers as a specialized foundry, while Newsonic processes them into finished filters and RF modules for delivery.
The Si-SAW filter technology combines a piezoelectric layer with a silicon substrate, offering superior power-handling and temperature characteristics along with a high Q-factor compared with conventional filters, making it suitable for next-generation smartphones, 5G infrastructure, and premium wearable devices.
With few domestically comparable TF-SAW foundry operators, the business structure also carries a relatively high degree of technical concentration on a specific set of customers.
| Quarter | Revenue | Operating profit | Op. margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025Q2 | ₩4.5B | -₩1.5B | −33.6% |
| 2025Q3 | ₩4.4B | -₩1.7B | −37.8% |
| 2025Q4 | ₩4.7B | -₩1.9B | −39.9% |
| 2026Q1 | ₩4.4B | -₩1.8B | −41.3% |
| 2026Q2 | ₩5.9B | -₩1.3B | −22.2% |
| Year | Revenue | Operating profit | Net income (parent) | Op. margin | ROE | Debt-to-equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | ₩15.8B | -₩3.4B | -₩29.5B | −21.5% | −128.0% | 60.1% |
| 2023 | ₩13.8B | -₩5.2B | -₩5.1B | −37.4% | −11.6% | 32.3% |
| 2024 | ₩17B | -₩4.5B | -₩2.2B | −26.7% | −5.3% | 35.8% |
| 2025 | ₩18.2B | -₩6.7B | -₩6.9B | −36.6% | −19.7% | 50.5% |
Consolidated basis (financial statements including subsidiaries) · Final figures from DART filings · Net income attributable to owners of the parent · Data as of 2026-09-05
Sonics' annual revenue declined from KRW 15.84bn in 2022 to KRW 13.81bn in 2023, then recovered for two consecutive years to KRW 16.98bn in 2024 and KRW 18.21bn in 2025.
However, the operating loss widened rather than narrowed over the same period, moving from KRW 3.40bn in 2022 to KRW 5.17bn in 2023, KRW 4.54bn in 2024, and KRW 6.66bn in 2025, showing that revenue growth did not translate into profitability improvement.
On the net-loss side, 2022 recorded an outsized loss of KRW 29.51bn (a comparative prior-period figure with loss per share of KRW 10,271) tied to pre-listing special factors, which narrowed to KRW 5.12bn in 2023 and KRW 2.24bn in 2024 before widening again to KRW 6.90bn in 2025.
On a quarterly basis, revenue was largely flat at KRW 4.49bn in 2Q25, KRW 4.42bn in 3Q25, KRW 4.70bn in 4Q25, and KRW 4.40bn in 1Q26, before jumping to KRW 5.87bn in 2Q26, the highest level of the past five quarters.
The operating loss also widened to KRW 1.87bn in 4Q25 and KRW 1.82bn in 1Q26 before narrowing to KRW 1.30bn in 2Q26, indicating some moderation in the scale of losses.
Operating cash flow was positive in some years, at KRW 0.42bn in 2022 and KRW 1.18bn in 2024, but negative in others, at KRW -1.38bn in 2023 and KRW -1.24bn in 2025, showing inconsistent underlying cash generation year to year.
Equity rose to KRW 44.28bn following the 2023 listing-related capital inflow but has since declined for three straight years to KRW 41.94bn in 2024 and KRW 34.93bn in 2025 as accumulated losses were reflected, pushing the debt ratio up from 32.3% in 2023 to 50.5% in 2025.
The fact that the operating margin worsened to -36.6% in 2025 from -26.7% in 2024 even as revenue expanded suggests that changes in cost structure or revenue mix may have offset any improvement in the bottom line.
The RF filter foundry industry in which Sonics operates is tied to demand from a range of end markets including 5G smartphones, wireless infrastructure, and wearable devices, and the company maintains more than 20 fabless telecom-chip customer relationships across the United States and Greater China.
Positioning itself as the world's only 4-inch/6-inch filter foundry, the company supplies dedicated foundry services to a leading global telecom chip maker in the handset segment while also expanding into non-handset network and automotive-electronics foundry work.
The February 2026 Si-SAW supply agreement with China's Newsonic marked an opportunity to extend a previously North America-centric customer base into the Chinese smartphone market, with Newsonic's supply of filters and RF modules to a Tier-1 Chinese handset maker potentially expanding Sonics' foundry revenue touchpoints.
At the same time, Sonics was selected as a co-research institution for a national R&D project on next-generation photonic computing semiconductors, led by KAIST with participation from DGIST and NTT Research, broadening its technology portfolio into photonic integrated circuit (PIC)-based photonic AI semiconductors.
The project is a long-term initiative with a total of KRW 9bn in government funding through 2030, under which Sonics will handle photonic chip fabrication and prototype implementation using thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) and thin-film lithium tantalate (TFLT) process technology during the phase-two research period starting in 2029.
Once the R&D concludes, the stated goal is to convert the results into a mass-producible manufacturing process, laying the groundwork for commercializing photonic AI semiconductors and contributing to building a domestic photonic semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem.
Participation in this national project is more a matter of medium- to long-term technology-portfolio diversification than an immediate revenue driver, and can be viewed as a growth avenue separate from the existing RF filter foundry business.
In the near term, the fact that 2Q26 revenue reached KRW 5.87bn, the highest level in the past five quarters, and that the operating loss narrowed from the prior quarter suggests some signs of improvement.
Since the Si-SAW supply agreement with China's Newsonic was signed in February 2026, a key point to watch is when and to what scale that volume begins to be reflected in future quarterly revenue.
Because Newsonic supplies filters and RF modules to a Tier-1 Chinese smartphone maker, Sonics' foundry revenue contribution could vary depending on the end customer's adoption and the pace of mass production.
The national photonic AI semiconductor R&D project runs through 2030, and the phase-two research that Sonics will handle is not scheduled to begin until 2029, so its near-term earnings impact is limited, though a medium- to long-term goal of building a foundation for photonic semiconductor commercialization has been stated.
Financially, with equity having declined for three consecutive years and the debt ratio rising, whether additional capital raising or profit improvement occurs remains a variable that could affect financial stability going forward.
The company appears to be pursuing a strategy of maintaining existing supply to North American wearable and telecom-chip customers while broadening its business axis into Greater China and photonic semiconductors, and how and when this diversification is reflected in actual revenue and profit structure is likely to be confirmed sequentially through future quarterly disclosures.
Sonics remains in net-loss territory even on a trailing four-quarter basis, putting it in a range where price-to-earnings ratio calculation itself is difficult, a characteristic typical of growth-stage, loss-making companies for which earnings-based valuation metrics are hard to apply.
Its price-to-book ratio sits at a level not far removed from net asset value, suggesting the market's assessment relative to asset value is neither extremely elevated nor extremely depressed.
The company has not paid a cash dividend to date, indicating a policy of prioritizing capital toward business reinvestment and new-business expansion over shareholder returns via dividends.
Given a financial structure in which equity has declined for three consecutive years while the debt ratio has risen, the future direction of per-share asset value remains a variable dependent on whether profitability improves and on future capital-raising plans.
New growth narratives such as the recent China supply agreement and participation in the national R&D project have drawn attention, but whether these factors translate into actual improvement in financial metrics is something that will need to be confirmed sequentially through future quarterly results.
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 2026-09-05
Annual revenue, which had fallen to KRW 13.81bn in 2023, recovered for two consecutive years to KRW 18.21bn by 2025, and 2Q26 revenue of KRW 5.87bn was the highest of the past five quarters.
The operating loss in the same quarter also narrowed from the prior quarter, showing revenue expansion partially translating into reduced losses. Whether this trend continues in subsequent quarters, however, requires further confirmation.
Through the Si-SAW foundry supply agreement signed with China's Newsonic in February 2026, Sonics expanded its previously North America-centric customer base into the supply chain of a Tier-1 Chinese smartphone maker.
This could serve as an opportunity to reduce dependence on specific customers and broaden the revenue base, though the actual scale and timing of the revenue contribution needs to be confirmed through future quarterly disclosures.
Sonics was selected as a co-research institution for a KAIST-led national R&D project on next-generation photonic computing semiconductors, expanding its technology scope beyond RF filter foundry work into photonic integrated circuit (PIC)-based photonic AI semiconductors.
It is a long-term project with a total of KRW 9bn in government funding through 2030, and could become a new growth pillar if it leads to commercialization. The phase-two research that Sonics is responsible for, however, does not begin until 2029 and has no bearing on near-term earnings.
2025 revenue rose year-on-year to KRW 18.21bn, but the operating loss widened to KRW 6.66bn from KRW 4.54bn in 2024, and the operating margin also worsened to -36.6% from -26.7% in 2024. A structure in which revenue expansion has not directly translated into profit improvement has persisted for several years. Changes in cost structure or revenue mix may have weighed negatively on the profit-and-loss structure.
Equity rose to KRW 44.28bn following the 2023 listing-related capital inflow but has since declined for three consecutive years to KRW 41.94bn in 2024 and KRW 34.93bn in 2025 due to accumulated losses. The debt ratio correspondingly rose from 32.3% in 2023 to 50.5% in 2025. If losses continue, the financial buffer could weaken further.
The Si-SAW supply agreement with China's Newsonic was signed in February 2026, but the actual timing and scale of its revenue contribution could vary depending on adoption by the end-customer Chinese smartphone maker and the scale of mass production.
The national photonic AI semiconductor project also does not contribute to near-term earnings, as the phase-two research assigned to Sonics does not begin until 2029. These new businesses remain at an early stage and may take time before being reflected in the financial statements.
Equity has declined for three consecutive years, the debt ratio rose from 32.3% in 2023 to 50.5% in 2025, and operating cash flow was negative in both 2023 and 2025. If losses continue, the need for additional external capital raising could increase.
The company maintains more than 20 fabless telecom-chip customer relationships across the US and Greater China, but its business structure carries a relatively high dependence on foundry revenue from a small number of large customers.
The new Newsonic supply contract is also an indirect supply structure in which volume can vary depending on the end-customer's decisions.
The RF filter foundry market is tied to end-market cycles such as the 5G/6G transition and wearable/infrastructure demand, so a slowdown in demand from a specific application could directly affect results.
New technology areas such as photonic AI semiconductors require a long period before commercialization, and there is no guarantee of an edge over competing technologies in the race to commercialize.
The 3Q26 quarterly report filing period, when it will be worth checking whether the revenue improvement and narrower operating loss seen in 2Q26 continued.
The timing and scale at which initial volumes under the Si-SAW supply agreement with China's Newsonic begin to be reflected in actual revenue should be checked.
Amid continued equity decline and a rising debt ratio, it is worth checking for any disclosure of additional capital raising such as a rights offering or convertible bonds.
The commencement and progress of the phase-two R&D under the national photonic AI semiconductor project, for which Sonics is responsible, should be tracked over the long term.
From 2022 through 2025, Sonics generally saw revenue increase, yet the operating loss widened rather than narrowed, reflecting a financial structure in which revenue growth and profitability improvement have not appeared together.
In 2Q26, revenue reached the highest level of the past five quarters and the operating loss narrowed from the prior quarter, offering some sign of improvement. Equity has declined for three consecutive years and the debt ratio has risen, leaving financial stability as a variable that warrants close attention.
On the business side, in addition to its existing North America-centric customer base, the company began entering the Chinese market through a February 2026 Si-SAW supply agreement with Newsonic and has broadened its long-term technology portfolio through participation in a KAIST-led national photonic AI semiconductor project.
Both new growth avenues, however, remain at an early stage, and their actual revenue and profit contribution will need to be confirmed sequentially through future quarterly results and disclosures.
Before making any investment decision, readers should check upcoming quarterly earnings, the timing of new-contract revenue recognition, and any capital-raising disclosures; this report does not include a buy or sell recommendation.
Report written 2026-09-05 · Data as of 2026-09-04
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