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
Fasoo AI is shifting its business axis from a document DRM leader to an AI data security and AX platform company, and while second-quarter 2026 revenue rose and operating profit turned positive, quarter-to-quarter earnings volatility persists.
Q2 2026 revenue reached KRW 13.1 billion, up 22.7% year over year, with both operating profit and net profit turning positive
Full-year 2025 operating margin fell to 5.4% from 11.8% in 2022, and the trailing four quarters included two quarters of operating losses
The company renamed itself Fasoo AI, merged its US subsidiary into Symbologic, and unveiled a new AX platform called Ellm
The company disclosed a value-up plan targeting 20% revenue growth, 25% operating margin, and 30% shareholder return ratio by 2030
Public-sector National Network Security Framework (N2SF) compliance and the generative-AI leak-prevention solution AI-R DLP have emerged as new growth pillars
Fasoo AI is a South Korean data security company reported to be the first to commercialize document-centric Digital Rights Management (DRM), and it recently rebranded from Fasoo to Fasoo AI to formalize its shift toward AI data security and AI transformation (AX) support.
Its flagship products include Fasoo Enterprise DRM (FED) for document encryption and permission control, Fasoo Data Radar (FDR) for automatic detection and classification of sensitive organizational data, AI-R DLP for controlling leakage of sensitive information in prompts and attachments during generative AI use, and Ellm, an AX platform deployable on-premises or in private cloud environments.
Its customer base centers on public institutions, financial firms, and large enterprises with strict security requirements, with public-sector demand growing around National Network Security Framework (N2SF) adoption and its associated data classification and security-grade (CSO) requirements.
The company merged its US subsidiary into an AX-focused entity, Symbologic, to reorganize its global operations, and has pursued overseas customer engagement through conferences such as the Gartner Security Summit.
The competitive landscape mixes domestic document security and DLP vendors with global platform providers such as Microsoft Purview, and Fasoo AI's strategy centers on zero-trust data security principles to extend its existing document-security customer base into AI governance territory.
No disclosed breakdown of revenue by business segment was confirmed through public sources, though the company has described AI business expansion and rising data security demand as mutually reinforcing.
As is typical for software business models, license and maintenance revenue tends to be seasonally concentrated in the second half of the year.
| Quarter | Revenue | Operating profit | Op. margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025Q2 | ₩10.7B | -₩900M | −8.8% |
| 2025Q3 | ₩10.4B | ₩300M | 2.4% |
| 2025Q4 | ₩17.1B | ₩5.9B | 34.7% |
| 2026Q1 | ₩9B | -₩2B | −22.4% |
| 2026Q2 | ₩13.1B | ₩1B | 7.7% |
| Year | Revenue | Operating profit | Net income (parent) | Op. margin | ROE | Debt-to-equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | ₩44.1B | ₩5.2B | ₩5.2B | 11.8% | 16.3% | 59.5% |
| 2023 | ₩42.7B | ₩3.8B | ₩4.4B | 8.9% | 12.8% | 34.1% |
| 2024 | ₩46.1B | ₩3.9B | ₩4.5B | 8.5% | 12.5% | 36.9% |
| 2025 | ₩46.7B | ₩2.5B | ₩2.7B | 5.4% | 7.1% | 28.2% |
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
Annual revenue slipped from KRW 44.1 billion in 2022 to KRW 42.7 billion in 2023, then rose modestly to KRW 46.1 billion in 2024 and KRW 46.7 billion in 2025, but operating margin declined for four consecutive years, from 11.8% in 2022 to 8.9% in 2023, 8.5% in 2024, and 5.4% in 2025, showing a clear profitability slowdown.
Net profit attributable to owners fell sharply to KRW 2.66 billion in 2025 from KRW 4.49 billion in 2024 and KRW 5.21 billion in 2022. Quarterly results show pronounced volatility.
Second-quarter 2025 revenue was KRW 10.7 billion with an operating loss of KRW 0.94 billion and a net loss attributable to owners of KRW 1.22 billion, before the company turned modestly profitable in the third quarter with KRW 10.4 billion in revenue and KRW 0.25 billion in operating profit.
Fourth-quarter revenue jumped to KRW 17.1 billion, delivering a large operating profit of KRW 5.93 billion and net profit attributable to owners of KRW 6.11 billion, a pattern consistent with the software industry's tendency toward second-half revenue concentration.
However, the first quarter of 2026 swung back to losses, with revenue of KRW 9.0 billion, an operating loss of KRW 2.02 billion, and a net loss of KRW 1.80 billion, before the second quarter recovered to KRW 13.1 billion in revenue with operating profit of KRW 1.01 billion and net profit attributable to owners of KRW 0.86 billion.
This alternating profit-and-loss pattern across the trailing five quarters (Q2 2025 through Q2 2026) illustrates both the seasonality of annual results and the difficulty of managing quarter-to-quarter profitability.
On the cash flow side, operating cash flow contracted from KRW 10.6 billion in 2022 to KRW 3.27 billion in 2025, reflecting weakened cash generation alongside declining profits.
The spread of generative AI in everyday workplace use has created a new security threat centered on leakage of personal information and trade secrets through prompts and attachments, acting as a growth driver for the data security and DLP market.
In South Korea, the overhaul of the National Network Security Framework (N2SF) for public institutions has emerged as a key variable, stimulating demand for security-grade (CSO) classification and data identification and control solutions.
Amid this trend, Fasoo AI is positioned to extend its existing document-security (DRM) customer base into the AI governance domain, maintaining market visibility through repeated product unveilings at domestic conferences such as ISDP and ISEC as well as overseas events like the Gartner Security Summit.
Competition unfolds in a landscape that mixes domestic document security and DLP specialists with global cloud security platforms such as Microsoft Purview, and Fasoo AI positions its ability to deploy on-premises or in private cloud environments as a point of differentiation.
That said, overall information security budgets tend to be sensitive to macroeconomic conditions and public procurement schedules, meaning the seasonality of annual results and the timing of government budget execution directly affect performance.
The broader spread of value-up programs and strengthened shareholder return expectations following commercial code amendments has also created pressure across small-cap KOSDAQ IT companies for expanded buybacks and dividends.
At the time of its second-quarter 2026 preliminary earnings disclosure, the company presented a positive outlook for the second half.
It stated that the expansion of its AI business and rising data security demand seen in the first half were continuing, that its order backlog had increased substantially year over year, and that, factoring in the software industry's typical second-half revenue concentration, double-digit annual revenue growth was achievable this year.
Over the longer term, the value-up plan disclosed last year set targets of 20% average annual revenue growth, 25% operating margin, and 30% shareholder return ratio by 2030.
On the business side, key variables likely to affect future results include overseas AX business expansion through Symbologic, the entity formed by merging its US subsidiary, upgrades to solutions addressing the National Network Security Framework (N2SF), and broadening the customer base for the Ellm AX platform and AI-R DLP.
The company also decided on a share buyback in June, continuing its shareholder return policy.
However, these growth targets and backlog expectations remain company statements not yet verified by confirmed results, and given past quarterly patterns, a return to losses during a seasonally slow quarter, as seen in the first quarter of 2026, cannot be ruled out.
Over the trailing four quarters (Q3 2025 through Q2 2026), profitable and loss-making quarters alternated, with per-share profitability signaling a gentler recovery pattern than the annual figures alone would suggest.
The share price sits at a level close to net asset value, and given the multi-year decline in profit that preceded it, this is not a segment marked by a pronounced premium or discount relative to book value.
Because earnings shrank after 2022 and then swung between losses and profits through the second half of 2025 and first half of 2026 in an attempted recovery, interpreting valuation multiples requires accounting for this quarterly variability.
The company has a history of paying annual cash dividends, and its June decision to conduct a share buyback has diversified its shareholder return toolkit. That said, the continuity and scale of these shareholder return policies may vary depending on future earnings trends.
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
Concerns over data leakage from widespread generative AI use are stimulating demand for new products such as AI-R DLP and FDR. The company's name change and the integration of its US subsidiary into Symbologic signal its commitment to pivoting toward AI security and AX business.
Expanded response to the N2SF in the public sector has the potential to become a stable, regulation-driven demand source.
Second-quarter 2026 revenue reached KRW 13.1 billion, up 22.7% year over year, with both operating profit and net profit turning positive. The company said it expects double-digit annual revenue growth based on order backlog growth and second-half seasonality.
Given that fourth-quarter results tend to drive annual performance, there remains room for improvement in the second half.
The company announced a value-up plan last year targeting a 30% shareholder return ratio by 2030. In June it decided on a share buyback, diversifying its return methods beyond dividends. This also aligns with the broader market trend of expanding value-up programs.
Operating margin declined for four consecutive years, from 11.8% in 2022 to 5.4% in 2025. Net profit attributable to owners was also roughly halved, from KRW 5.2 billion in 2022 to KRW 2.7 billion in 2025. Investment costs associated with the AI business pivot may be weighing on profitability.
Two of the trailing five quarters (Q2 2025 and Q1 2026) recorded operating and net losses. High revenue and profit concentration in the fourth quarter means first-half results alone cannot reliably indicate the full-year direction. This seasonality can undermine investor confidence in earnings forecasts.
Competition in the AI data security market is intensifying with the entry of large global platform companies such as Microsoft Purview. The revenue contribution of new businesses unveiled after the rebrand, such as the Ellm AX platform, has not yet been separately disclosed. Whether the 2030 value-up targets will be achieved remains an unverified, plan-stage matter.
Because software license revenue is concentrated in the fourth quarter, first-half results alone are insufficient to determine the full-year direction. Past patterns show the possibility of returning to losses during off-peak quarters, as occurred in the first quarter of 2026. Changes in the timing of public-sector budget execution can also affect quarterly results.
While organizational restructuring such as the rebrand and the Symbologic merger is underway, the revenue contribution from new AI and AX businesses has not yet been verified. Expanded investment in new businesses could further pressure the profitability of the existing document security business. Initial cost burdens may arise during overseas business expansion.
Intensifying competition with global cloud security platforms could increase pricing and technology competitiveness pressures. The specific implementation timeline and budget allocation for public-sector regulatory changes such as the N2SF are variables outside the company's control.
If policy changes are delayed or scaled back, anticipated public-sector demand may materialize later than expected.
Third-quarter 2026 results are expected to be disclosed around this time; it will be important to check whether the Q2 profitability turnaround continued and whether the reported order backlog growth translated into actual revenue.
This period will show whether the software industry's typical second-half revenue concentration materializes and whether results align with the company's stated target of double-digit annual revenue growth.
It will be worth confirming the actual scale of execution of the June share buyback decision and whether additional shareholder return policies are announced.
New public-sector order disclosures related to the National Network Security Framework (N2SF) and changes in the share of overseas revenue via Symbologic should be tracked.
Fasoo AI is in the process of transitioning its identity from a traditional document DRM business to an AI data security and AX platform company, a strategy underscored by its name change and the integration of its US subsidiary.
Financially, operating margin declined for four consecutive years after 2022, reflecting an ongoing profitability slowdown, and the trailing five quarters showed high volatility with profits and losses alternating.
In the second quarter of 2026, revenue grew and both operating profit and net profit turned positive, with the company stating it expects double-digit annual revenue growth based on order backlog increases and second-half seasonality.
The value-up plan targeting 20% revenue growth, 25% operating margin, and 30% shareholder return ratio by 2030, along with the share buyback decision, demonstrates a commitment to strengthening shareholder returns.
However, the actual revenue contribution of the new AI and AX businesses has not yet been separately verified, and the specific timing for realizing N2SF-related public-sector demand still needs confirmation.
Third-quarter results, whether second-half seasonality materializes as expected, and the pace of value-up plan execution appear to be the key variables going forward.
Report written 2026-09-05 · Data as of 2026-09-04
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