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
KEC continued to post revenue growth and narrowing operating losses through the first two quarters of 2026, while attempting a business transition through new products such as IPM modules and trench-type SiC MOSFETs.
Both Q1 2026 (revenue KRW64.3bn, operating loss KRW4.8bn) and Q2 2026 (revenue KRW67.8bn, operating loss KRW3.3bn) showed revenue growth alongside narrowing operating losses.
The company posted operating losses for three straight years from 2023 to 2025, with the 2025 net loss widening to KRW26.6bn from KRW11.0bn in 2024.
In March 2026 the company completed independent development and mass-production readiness for an Intelligent Power Module (IPM), and separately succeeded in developing a 1200V trench-type SiC MOSFET under a national research project.
Core SSTR and IC product lines face pricing pressure from Chinese manufacturers, while large global IDMs and domestic conglomerates are simultaneously expanding SiC and GaN capacity.
The company pays no dividend, and three consecutive years of losses mean a price-to-earnings ratio currently cannot be calculated.
KEC was spun off in 2006 from the semiconductor manufacturing division of its parent (now Korea Electronics Holdings), which was founded in 1969, and specializes in non-memory power semiconductors.
Its core products span small-signal transistors (SSTR) and diodes, IGBTs, super-junction MOSFETs and other power discretes, plus power-management ICs such as gate driver ICs and PWM controllers.
The company operates an integrated IDM structure at its Gumi plant, housing both front-end and back-end production facilities to internalize the process from design to mass production.
More recently, it completed independent development and mass-production readiness for an Intelligent Power Module (IPM) that integrates driving and protection circuitry with IGBT, MOSFET and SiC devices, marking a pivot from discrete-device-centric business toward module-type products.
This IPM production system is meaningful as a starting point for KEC to expand from a discrete-device-centric business into the modular power semiconductor space.
Earlier, as the lead institution on a national research project, the company succeeded in developing a 1200V trench-type SiC MOSFET for electric vehicle and renewable energy applications, a trench-structure SiC power semiconductor that globally only Infineon and ROHM are capable of mass-producing.
Its customer base is diversified, with Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Hyundai Mobis domestically, and Panasonic, Sony, BYD and Tesla overseas, and it has expanded exports through multiple overseas subsidiaries in China, Japan and the United States.
Competitively, global IDMs such as Infineon, STMicroelectronics, onsemi and ROHM lead the market, while domestic players including DB HiTek and Samsung Electronics are preparing compound-semiconductor businesses, intensifying rivalry.
KEC, which had annual revenue of about KRW450bn and roughly 3,000 employees in the early 2000s, has since gone through business difficulties and now operates as a mid-sized IDM with roughly 570 employees.
| Quarter | Revenue | Operating profit | Op. margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025Q2 | ₩59.8B | -₩5.1B | −8.6% |
| 2025Q3 | ₩52.5B | -₩7.4B | −14.1% |
| 2025Q4 | ₩53.7B | -₩6.1B | −11.4% |
| 2026Q1 | ₩64.3B | -₩4.8B | −7.5% |
| 2026Q2 | ₩67.8B | -₩3.3B | −4.8% |
| Year | Revenue | Operating profit | Net income (parent) | Op. margin | ROE | Debt-to-equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | ₩256.2B | ₩18B | ₩21.9B | 7.0% | 7.4% | 31.7% |
| 2023 | ₩206.9B | -₩33B | -₩38.1B | −15.9% | −10.9% | 25.5% |
| 2024 | ₩243.2B | -₩13.3B | -₩11.4B | −5.5% | −3.3% | 29.0% |
| 2025 | ₩229.6B | -₩21.8B | -₩26.6B | −9.5% | −8.2% | 37.8% |
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
Annually, revenue was KRW256.2bn in 2022 with an operating profit of KRW18.0bn (7.0% operating margin) and net income of KRW22.3bn, but the company swung to losses in 2023 as revenue fell to KRW206.9bn, generating an operating loss of KRW33.0bn (-15.9% margin) and a net loss of KRW37.8bn.
In 2024, revenue recovered to KRW243.2bn, yet an operating loss of KRW13.3bn (-5.5%) persisted, though the net loss narrowed to KRW11.0bn from the prior year. In 2025, revenue declined again to KRW229.6bn while the operating loss widened to KRW21.8bn (-9.5%) and the net loss grew to KRW26.6bn.
On a quarterly basis, the loss temporarily widened from Q2 2025 (revenue KRW59.8bn, operating loss KRW5.1bn, net loss KRW3.7bn) to Q3 2025 (revenue KRW52.5bn, operating loss KRW7.4bn, net loss KRW7.4bn).
In Q4 2025, revenue recovered slightly to KRW53.7bn, but the net loss ballooned to KRW13.2bn — a much larger jump than the operating loss of KRW6.1bn, suggesting non-operating, possibly one-off items affected the bottom line.
Subsequently, Q1 2026 posted revenue of KRW64.3bn with an operating loss of KRW4.8bn and net loss of KRW5.1bn, while Q2 2026 showed revenue of KRW67.8bn with an operating loss of KRW3.3bn and net loss of KRW2.8bn, marking two consecutive quarters of rising revenue and narrowing operating losses.
Notably, revenue over the latest four quarters (Q3 2025–Q2 2026) rose sequentially from KRW52.5bn to KRW67.8bn. On the cash-flow side, 2025 operating cash flow was a positive KRW9.3bn despite the net loss, whereas 2023 recorded a negative KRW0.7bn, and the debt ratio edged up from 31.7% in 2022 to 37.8% in 2025.
The power semiconductor industry is in a cycle shifting its center of gravity from silicon-based devices for appliances, industrial and automotive uses toward compound semiconductors such as SiC and GaN.
According to market researcher Yole Développement, the global SiC market is expected to expand from about $4.8bn in 2026 to about $10.4bn in 2030, growing at roughly 21% annually, while the GaN market is expected to grow from about $0.9bn to about $2.9bn over the same period, at roughly 33% annually.
More recently, major power semiconductor companies such as Infineon and onsemi have been expanding AI data-center production capacity and pursuing long-term supply agreements with large customers, as rising AI accelerator power consumption and higher-voltage data-center power architectures are driving expanded SiC and GaN adoption.
However, with more than 90% of domestic power semiconductor demand dependent on imports, 2026 price hikes by Texas Instruments on power management ICs and by Infineon on its core products illustrate the cost of supply-chain dependence.
Domestically, DB HiTek formalized a plan in December 2025 to invest a total of KRW1.5 trillion over five years to expand SiC and GaN production capacity, and according to March 2026 reports, Samsung Electronics is also expected to begin sample production of SiC power semiconductors in the third quarter of 2026.
Separately, the world's second-largest power semiconductor maker, onsemi, completed the world's largest SiC fab in Bucheon, South Korea in 2023, expanding output tenfold and supplying directly to Tesla, Hyundai-Kia, and BMW.
Industry observers note an estimated roughly 10-year technology gap between domestic firms and global leaders such as Infineon, STMicroelectronics and onsemi in compound semiconductors, while the government has committed a total of KRW260.1bn through 2031 to the compound semiconductor sector, targeting a doubling of technology self-sufficiency and domestic production share by 2030.
Amid these dynamics, KEC is positioned as a mid-sized domestic power semiconductor firm with in-house SiC trench MOSFET development and IPM production capability, but it must compete simultaneously against aggressive capacity expansion by large IDMs and domestic conglomerates.
KEC announced that in March 2026 it completed independent development and mass-production readiness for its IPM, and that it plans to pursue domestic localization of IPMs in both home appliance and automotive electronics markets in Korea and overseas.
The IPM is viewed as a pivot point from discrete-device business toward the modular segment, and since power efficiency and supply stability are emerging as key competitiveness variables, whether this localization effort translates into actual supply outcomes is seen as a key point to watch going forward.
Earlier, as the lead institution on a national project, the company succeeded in developing a 1200V trench-type SiC MOSFET for electric vehicle and renewable energy applications, which a brokerage researcher said gives grounds to expect the company's performance in the EV market.
That said, in Q1 2026 revenue rose 1.1% year over year while the operating loss widened 57.1% and the net loss widened 121.5%, a result attributed to continued margin pressure in the SSTR market for core TR and IC products from the rise of Chinese manufacturers and price competition, which reduced gross profit and widened the operating loss.
The company has stated that it is concentrating development resources on expanding the share of automotive electronics semiconductors and has secured automakers and auto parts companies as customers, gaining recognition for its technology and reliability.
Whether and how quickly new products (the IPM and trench SiC MOSFET) begin contributing to revenue in a way that offsets pricing pressure on legacy core products remains the key variable for future results.
KEC has posted operating losses for three consecutive years from 2023 through 2025, leaving it in a range where traditional earnings-based valuation metrics are difficult to apply.
As a result, a price-to-earnings ratio cannot currently be calculated, and the market tends to gauge trading levels mainly through the price-to-book ratio.
The price-to-book ratio tends to trade at a discount to net asset value, a pattern that can be read as reflecting the losses and shrinking equity base of recent years. The company has not been paying dividends recently, so there is little to highlight from a dividend-yield perspective.
The fact that quarterly revenue has been rising and operating losses narrowing through 2026 could become a meaningful variable in future valuation discussions, but this does not by itself signal a return to net profitability.
Ultimately, the current trading level can be seen as a zone where past earnings weakness and expectations tied to new products and a potential turnaround are both being weighed.
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 rose to KRW64.3bn in Q1 2026 and KRW67.8bn in Q2 2026, while the operating loss narrowed to KRW4.8bn and KRW3.3bn respectively, marking two straight quarters of improvement. This represents a clear recovery from the Q3-Q4 2025 lows of KRW52.5bn and KRW53.7bn.
If new products such as the IPM and trench SiC MOSFET begin contributing meaningfully to revenue, this trend could continue.
As lead institution on a national project, KEC succeeded in developing a 1200V trench-type SiC MOSFET, and observers note that globally only a handful of companies, such as Infineon and ROHM, can mass-produce trench-structure SiC. This is cited as a technical differentiator for a relative latecomer like KEC.
The company has also accumulated a track record of supplying IGBTs to automakers and auto-electronics customers.
With an IDM structure combining front-end and back-end production at its Gumi plant, the company can handle the process from design to mass production, and its customer base is diversified across Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Hyundai Mobis domestically, and Panasonic, Sony, BYD and Tesla overseas. This gives it relatively lower dependence on any single customer or region.
The company posted operating losses for three consecutive years from 2023 to 2025, and shareholders' equity attributable to owners fell from KRW349.1bn in 2023 to KRW325.9bn in 2025. Accumulated net losses have gradually eroded the company's financial buffer.
In Q1 2026, the core SSTR and IC product lines experienced declining gross profit and a widening operating loss due to the rise of Chinese manufacturers and price competition. With revenue contribution from new businesses (IPM, SiC) still small, erosion in the profitability of legacy core products remains a burden.
onsemi completed a large-scale SiC fab in Bucheon, South Korea, expanding output and supplying directly to Tesla, Hyundai-Kia, and BMW.
DB HiTek is also investing KRW1.5 trillion over five years to expand SiC and GaN capacity, and Samsung Electronics plans SiC sample production in Q3 2026, intensifying competitive pressure on a smaller player like KEC.
The company recorded operating losses in three of the last four fiscal years, and both the operating loss and net loss widened in 2025 versus the prior year.
Quarterly improvement has continued into 2026, but the company has not yet returned to profitability, and whether this improving trend persists needs to be confirmed with subsequent quarterly results.
Industry estimates put the compound semiconductor technology gap between domestic firms and global leaders at roughly 10 years, and domestic conglomerates such as DB HiTek and Samsung Electronics are moving visibly into SiC and GaN.
If KEC, as a relative latecomer, fails to secure both yield and price competitiveness, its new-business results could be delayed.
The core SSTR and IC product lines are exposed to price competition from Chinese manufacturers, creating persistent pressure on gross margins. In addition, volatility in manufacturing costs such as raw materials and electricity remains a variable that can affect operating results.
KEC's Q3 2026 (July-September) earnings disclosure is expected around this time, and whether the revenue growth and narrowing operating losses seen in Q1-Q2 continue should be checked.
Progress on Samsung Electronics' plan for SiC power semiconductor sample production should be checked to assess how the entry of a domestic conglomerate into compound semiconductors affects the competitive landscape for smaller power semiconductor firms including KEC.
Whether DB HiTek proceeds with its planned initial SiC/GaN production volumes should be tracked to gauge shifts in the domestic compound semiconductor supply landscape.
It should be confirmed whether KEC's IPM and trench-type SiC MOSFET products progress to customer qualification and mass production in appliance and automotive electronics accounts, and whether related new revenue materializes.
KEC is a mid-sized domestic non-memory power semiconductor company dating back to 1969, supplying SSTR, IGBT, MOSFET and power-management ICs for appliance and automotive electronics through an integrated front-end/back-end production system at its Gumi plant.
After returning to profit in 2022, it posted operating losses for three consecutive years from 2023 to 2025, but Q1-Q2 2026 showed two straight quarters of rising revenue and narrowing operating losses.
The company has recently pursued a business-structure transition by expanding its new-product lineup, including independent IPM development and mass-production readiness and a 1200V trench-type SiC MOSFET.
However, its core SSTR and IC product lines remain exposed to price competition from Chinese manufacturers, and the competitive environment is challenging as large global IDMs and domestic conglomerates simultaneously expand SiC and GaN capacity.
The future direction of earnings is likely to hinge on how quickly new products contribute to revenue and whether margins on existing product lines can be defended, with upcoming quarterly results and competitor developments serving as the key indicators to watch.
Report written 2026-09-05 · Data as of 2026-09-04
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