PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are calculated in-house from the last 4 quarters (2025Q3–2026Q2) · Dividend yield is based on ₩100 per share · Prices as of the 2026-10-02 close
i-SENS is showing improving operating profit as its core blood glucose strip business recovers and its continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) business expands, but one-off non-operating items such as subsidiary impairment and an overseas receivable risk have added volatility to net income.
Consolidated operating profit rose sharply in 2025 from the prior year, but net income attributable to owners remained in the red for a second consecutive year.
Second-quarter 2026 revenue hit a quarterly record, and an improved product mix from higher CGM sales contributed to a rise in the operating margin.
The next-generation CGM device 'CareSens Air 2' is pursuing domestic MFDS approval and European CE certification in parallel, with the company targeting a simultaneous domestic and European launch in the first quarter of 2027.
The 2025 net loss was heavily affected by non-operating factors, including a goodwill impairment at U.S. subsidiary CoaguSense and collection uncertainty tied to a receivable from an Iranian customer.
The stock trades at a premium to net asset value, and net income summed over the trailing four quarters remains in a loss position, warranting caution when interpreting per-share metrics.
i-SENS is a medical device company that develops, manufactures, and sells blood glucose meters (BGM), disposable test strips, continuous glucose monitors (CGM), and hospital point-of-care testing (POCT) products based on electrochemical biosensor technology.
Its revenue structure is dominated by consumable test strips, with the company classified as a medical device firm in which blood glucose test strips account for 81% of consolidated revenue.
The newer CGM business still represents a relatively small share, with CGMS revenue of roughly 11.6 billion won, or about 3.7% of total revenue, in 2025.
Geographically, exports account for 78.3% of sales versus 21.7% domestic, and while Arkray of Japan, a minority shareholder, is the single largest customer at 14.8% of sales, exposure is spread across more than 100 countries.
Manufacturing takes place at plants in Wonju and Songdo (plants 1 and 2), as well as a plant in China, with a dedicated CGM production line being built at the Songdo 2 plant.
Through its U.S. subsidiary CoaguSense, the company also operates a blood-coagulation diagnostics business, though that unit posted net losses for two consecutive years and has weighed on group results.
In the domestic CGM market, global majors Dexcom, Abbott, and Medtronic are already established, and i-SENS competes as the sole domestic CGM manufacturer.
The company operates under co-CEOs and founders Cha Geun-sik and Nam Hak-hyeon, and has built out its global distribution network through overseas partnerships including AgaMatrix in the United States and Arkray in Japan.
| Quarter | Revenue | Operating profit | Op. margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025Q2 | ₩76.8B | ₩1.7B | 2.2% |
| 2025Q3 | ₩78.7B | ₩900M | 1.2% |
| 2025Q4 | ₩83.7B | ₩2.1B | 2.5% |
| 2026Q1 | ₩75.1B | ₩900M | 1.2% |
| 2026Q2 | ₩88.7B | ₩6.6B | 7.5% |
| Year | Revenue | Operating profit | Net income (parent) | Op. margin | ROE | Debt-to-equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | ₩264.8B | ₩19.8B | ₩16.1B | 7.5% | 5.6% | 47.5% |
| 2023 | ₩265.1B | ₩10.9B | ₩3.4B | 4.1% | 1.2% | 64.4% |
| 2024 | ₩291.1B | ₩2.7B | -₩1.8B | 0.9% | −0.6% | 72.3% |
| 2025 | ₩315.4B | ₩7.9B | -₩5.1B | 2.5% | −1.6% | 70.7% |
Consolidated basis (financial statements including subsidiaries) · Final figures from DART filings · Net income attributable to owners of the parent · Data as of 2026-08-22
Consolidated revenue rose to 315.4 billion won in 2025 from 291.1 billion won in 2024, and operating profit improved sharply to 7.9 billion won from 2.7 billion won, lifting the operating margin from 0.9% to 2.5%.
Net income attributable to owners, however, came in at negative 5.1 billion won, following a loss of 1.8 billion won in 2024, marking a second straight year of losses, as non-operating expenses of 24.4 billion won — including a 5.6 billion won goodwill impairment at subsidiary CoaguSense, a 3.9 billion won loss on financial asset valuation, and a 1.9 billion won loss on currency forwards — eroded profitability.
On a quarterly basis, operating profit narrowed to 0.9 billion won in the third quarter of 2025, then recovered to 2.1 billion won in the fourth quarter, yet owners' net income swung to a large loss of 8.2 billion won in that same quarter, consistent with the subsidiary impairment and valuation losses noted above being concentrated in that period.
The first quarter of 2026 saw revenue contract to 75.1 billion won with operating profit of 0.9 billion won, though owners' net income remained positive at 1.6 billion won.
The second quarter of 2026 then set a quarterly revenue record of 88.7 billion won, with operating profit of 6.6 billion won and owners' net income of 4.3 billion won, showing a clear improvement.
The company attributed the second-quarter improvement to a favorable product mix driven by a higher CGM sales contribution; consolidated CGM revenue for the quarter was about 9.4 billion won (roughly 10.5 billion won on a standalone basis), with overseas sales increasing sharply from the prior quarter.
As a result, the gross margin reached 43.4%, up 2.4 percentage points year-on-year and 1.0 percentage point quarter-on-quarter.
Compared with 2022, when the operating margin stood at 7.5% and owners' net income was 16.1 billion won, profit levels have contracted over the past three to four years before beginning to recover, leaving the company in a period where operating-level improvement coexists with non-operating volatility in net income.
The domestic blood glucose device market, including CGM, expanded from 78.9 billion won in 2020 to 126.9 billion won in 2024 at a compound annual growth rate of 12.6%, with growth increasingly concentrated in continuous glucose monitors.
As of 2024, CGM held the largest domestic market share at 45.3%, ahead of blood glucose meters at 25.8% and test strips at 19.2%, and the CGM segment's share grew at a compound annual rate of 73.6% between 2020 and 2024.
The global CGM market has also continued to expand; one market research firm projected in a 2023 report that the global CGM market would grow from $4.6 billion in 2019 to more than $31.1 billion by 2026.
Even amid this high-growth market, i-SENS's CareSens, commercialized in 2023, remains effectively the only domestic CGM product, and its domestic market share stood at just 7.5% as of 2024, roughly two years after launch.
Market observers generally view this figure as evidence of successful market entry, though they also note the product must still clear three hurdles: accuracy and reliability, clinical confidence among physicians, and sustained patient usage experience.
In the global CGM market, a small group of leaders — Dexcom, Abbott, and Medtronic — continue to hold dominant shares, leaving i-SENS, as a later entrant, to pursue a niche strategy built on domestic real-world data accumulation and differentiated usability such as longer wear time and lower pricing.
Some analysts also note that the legacy BGM business is entering a phase of slowing revenue growth as competitive intensity rises with CGM's spread.
The company has completed its domestic MFDS approval filing for the next-generation CGM 'CareSens Air 2' and is targeting a simultaneous domestic and European launch in the first quarter of next year.
In Europe, it has applied for new CE certification for CareSens Air 2, alongside a CE variation application for the existing CareSens Air to expand pediatric and adolescent use and add predictive alert functionality.
In the United States, the company disclosed in a February 2026 report that it had begun FDA clinical trials for CareSens Air 2, and it aims to complete both the U.S. research clinical trial for CareSens Air 2 and the China confirmatory trial for the existing CareSens Air in the second half of the year.
On the production side, the company is investing roughly 20 billion won at the Songdo 2 plant to build a dedicated CareSens Air 2 production line, which, combined with existing capacity, is expected to bring total annual CGM production capacity to about 5.4 million units.
On the distribution side, the company announced a CGM private-label supply agreement with LifeScan in early 2026, stating that a launch in four countries was confirmed for early 2027.
Management's stated CGM revenue target for full-year 2026 is 40 billion won, and cumulative CGM revenue in the first half reached 17.8 billion won, a pace consistent with achieving that target.
However, with put-option exercises now underway on i-SENS's first-round convertible bonds, the possibility of further early redemption of the roughly 18 billion won in remaining bonds continues to draw attention to how funding plans align with the capacity-expansion schedule.
Because net income summed over the trailing four quarters remains in a loss position, conventional earnings-based valuation multiples are difficult to interpret in the usual way.
The stock's level relative to net asset value reflects a degree of premium and sits closer to the upper end of its trading range over the past several years. Dividends are paid annually, though the yield itself is reported to run below the sector average.
While operating profit has shown a recovery trend since 2025, net income has swung more sharply due to non-operating factors such as subsidiary impairments and currency or derivative-related gains and losses, making it worth tracking the gap between operating-level improvement and the direction of net income.
The continued expansion of CGM sales and the resulting improvement in product mix is a factor worth monitoring for how the company's profit structure may evolve going forward.
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 2026-08-22
Consolidated CGM revenue was about 9.4 billion won in the second quarter of 2026, with overseas sales rising sharply from the prior quarter, lifting the gross margin to 43.4%. Cumulative first-half CGM revenue of 17.8 billion won is on a pace consistent with the company's stated full-year target of 40 billion won.
Continued growth in the CGM mix has the potential to support further improvement in the company's overall profitability structure.
CareSens Air 2 has improved usability by extending wear time from 15 to 18 days and reducing sensor volume by about 70%, and it is undergoing domestic approval review and European CE certification review simultaneously. U.S.
FDA clinical trials and a China confirmatory trial are also underway in parallel, building a multi-region approval pipeline. A private-label supply agreement with LifeScan has scheduled a launch in four countries for early 2027, pointing to further geographic diversification.
Test strips, a recurring-purchase consumable business, account for 81% of consolidated revenue and are sold through a network spanning more than 100 countries, limiting concentration in any single country or customer. Dependence on Arkray, the single largest customer, is assessed as manageable at 14.8%. Cash flow from this legacy business is being used to help fund the expansion of CGM investment.
In 2025, non-operating expenses of 24.4 billion won — including a 5.6 billion won goodwill impairment at CoaguSense, a 3.9 billion won financial asset valuation loss, and a 1.9 billion won currency forward loss — resulted in a net loss despite improved operating profit.
Such non-operating items are difficult to predict and can vary in size and nature each year. It is worth keeping in mind that operating improvement may not necessarily translate directly into net income improvement.
i-SENS's share of the domestic CGM market stood at just 7.5% as of 2024, roughly two years after launch, with global majors Dexcom, Abbott, and Medtronic still holding most of the market.
Observers note the company must still clear barriers related to accuracy and reliability, clinical confidence among physicians, and sustained patient usage experience. In overseas markets, the company remains a later entrant that still faces challenges in building brand recognition and distribution networks.
Owners' net income was negative in both 2024 and 2025, and net income summed over the trailing four quarters also remains in a loss position. In the first quarter of 2026, both revenue and operating profit contracted again, illustrating significant quarter-to-quarter volatility in results. This volatility could be cited as a factor reducing confidence in future earnings estimates.
Even after allowance for doubtful accounts, an unamortized receivable balance of 8.2 billion won remains outstanding from Iranian customer Rayan Tajhiz Kara, and the company's business report cited uncertainty in U.S.-Iran relations as a reason for assessing low collectability.
This is described as amounting to about 2.6% of total revenue, not seen as critical to the core business, but any additional write-off could be reflected as further non-operating expense, warranting continued monitoring.
U.S. subsidiary CoaguSense recorded net losses for two consecutive years in 2024 and 2025, and in 2025 its entire 5.6 billion won of goodwill was written off.
Additional impairment was also recognized on tangible and right-of-use assets, and the possibility of similar cost recognition recurring cannot be ruled out if the subsidiary's performance remains weak.
With exports making up 78.3% of revenue, the company has significant exposure to multiple currencies, and gains or losses on derivatives such as currency forwards have previously affected results.
In addition, put-option exercises on the first-round convertible bonds have begun, leaving the possibility of further early redemption of roughly 18 billion won in remaining bonds, which warrants attention from a funding-plan perspective.
Watch for the disclosure of preliminary third-quarter 2026 results, with a focus on whether the CGM revenue mix and gross margin trend continue the improvement seen in the second quarter.
Confirm whether the U.S. research clinical trial for CareSens Air 2 and the China confirmatory trial for CareSens Air are completed, which would indicate the pace of the multi-region approval pipeline.
Check whether CareSens Air 2 receives domestic MFDS approval and European CE certification, and whether the targeted simultaneous domestic-European launch schedule is actually met.
Confirm whether the four-country launch under the LifeScan private-label supply agreement is actually realized, and monitor how any early redemption of remaining convertible bonds affects the company's funding plan.
i-SENS presents a typical picture of a company in growth transition, using the stable cash generation of its core strip business to fund an expanding CGM business.
Results in 2025 and the first half of 2026 showed a clear recovery at the operating profit level, along with confirmed gross margin improvement driven by a higher CGM revenue mix.
However, net income attributable to owners has been negative for two consecutive years, a pattern stemming from recurring non-operating factors such as the CoaguSense impairment and the Iranian receivable risk.
Growth pipeline items such as the multi-region approval process for CareSens Air 2 and the supply agreement with LifeScan are progressing with concrete timelines, but their actual revenue contribution is expected to materialize from 2027 onward.
Investors should take a balanced view that weighs the improving operating trend against net income volatility, and continue to verify the trajectory through upcoming quarterly results and global approval milestones. This report is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute a buy or sell recommendation.
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.