PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are calculated in-house from the last 4 quarters (2025Q1–2025Q4) · Dividend yield is based on ₩0 per share · Prices as of the 2026-10-02 close
Icecream Edu has posted consecutive quarterly operating profits in early 2026 through cost restructuring, but revenue has declined for four straight years and whether it can clear listing-maintenance requirements after being designated an administrative-issue stock remains the key variable.
Operating profit turned positive in both Q1 and Q2 2026, while revenue kept declining by double digits year over year
Core product 'Icecream Homerun' accounts for over 99% of revenue, with both subscriber count and average monthly fee declining
In August 2026 the company was cited for both market-cap and penny-stock (sub-1,000-won) shortfalls as an administrative issue, with a 90-trading-day window to clear the bar and remain listed
Early redemption (put option) claims on convertible bonds have added liquidity pressure, making balance management a near-term task
The company is attempting a business shift through the next-generation AI Homerun platform, the AI teacher 'AI Dream Teacher,' and the US-market product 'CollegeAble'
Icecream Edu is an edtech company whose core business is 'Icecream Homerun,' a home-based self-directed learning program targeting elementary school students.
Building on Homerun, the company has expanded its service lineup to include 'Homerun Middle' for middle schoolers, 'Little Homerun' for pre-elementary children, and 'Homerun Smart Learning Center' for study-room channels.
The company was established in 2013 through a spin-off of the Homerun business unit from Icecream Media (then Sigong Media) and listed on KOSDAQ in 2019. Its flagship product, Icecream Homerun, is heavily concentrated, accounting for 99.2% of total revenue.
More recently, the company unveiled an AI teacher called 'AI Dream Teacher,' built on a proprietary education-specific small language model (sLLM), designed to split monitoring and parent-consulting duties between AI and human teachers.
It is also preparing to launch 'CollegeAble,' an AI platform aimed at the US college-admissions market, as part of a plan to diversify into overseas and B2B/B2G channels serving schools, education companies, and public institutions.
The competitive landscape includes smart-learning services such as Woongjin Thinkbig's 'Smart All,' Daekyo's 'Summit,' and Visang Education's 'OnlyOne,' making content and AI-feature differentiation a key battleground.
The company operates under the governance structure of the Sigong Tech group as the controlling entity, and operates as a separate legal entity from its affiliate Icecream Media, which runs its own edtech business.
| Quarter | Revenue | Operating profit | Op. margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025Q2 | ₩22.9B | ₩700M | 3.1% |
| 2025Q3 | ₩21B | ₩1B | 4.8% |
| 2025Q4 | — | — | — |
| 2026Q1 | ₩20.3B | ₩900M | 4.2% |
| 2026Q2 | ₩19.3B | ₩1.7B | 8.6% |
| Year | Revenue | Operating profit | Net income (parent) | Op. margin | ROE | Debt-to-equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | ₩133.8B | ₩2.1B | ₩800M | 1.6% | 1.2% | 37.9% |
| 2023 | ₩117.6B | -₩16.7B | -₩23.5B | −14.2% | −53.2% | 106.2% |
| 2024 | ₩107.6B | -₩1.9B | -₩6.2B | −1.8% | −16.0% | 99.6% |
| 2025 | ₩91.6B | ₩1.4B | -₩1.1B | 1.5% | −2.5% | 57.3% |
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
On a consolidated basis, revenue declined for four consecutive years, from KRW 133.8 billion in 2022 to KRW 117.6 billion in 2023, KRW 107.6 billion in 2024, and KRW 91.6 billion in 2025.
Profitability swung sharply: operating profit was a surplus of KRW 2.1 billion (1.6% margin) in 2022, turned into losses of KRW –16.7 billion in 2023 and KRW –1.9 billion in 2024, then returned to a surplus of KRW 1.4 billion (1.5% margin) in 2025.
Net income followed a similar but more volatile path, posting a large loss of KRW –23.5 billion in 2023 and KRW –6.2 billion in 2024 after a KRW 0.8 billion surplus in 2022; even in 2025, despite the operating profit turnaround, net income attributable to owners remained negative at KRW –1.1 billion.
The debt ratio spiked to 106.2% in 2023 and 99.6% in 2024 before easing to 57.3% in 2025, while operating cash flow improved markedly from KRW –8.0 billion in 2023 to KRW 4.6 billion in 2024 and KRW 9.7 billion in 2025.
By quarter, Q1 2026 operating profit came in at about KRW 850 million, an improvement of more than KRW 4.4 billion from the prior-year quarter's loss of roughly KRW –3.57 billion, with net income also turning positive at about KRW 675 million, even as revenue fell 16.8% year over year to KRW 20.3 billion.
That turnaround stemmed from a cost restructuring in which cost of sales fell more than 30% from about KRW 15.4 billion to KRW 10.7 billion and selling and administrative expenses fell a similar magnitude from about KRW 12.6 billion to KRW 8.7 billion.
Q2 2026 operating profit improved further to about KRW 1.65 billion with net income attributable to owners rising to about KRW 1.79 billion, bringing first-half combined operating profit to roughly KRW 2.5 billion, a swing from a KRW –2.8 billion loss in the same period a year earlier.
However, the swing in net income attributable to owners between Q2 2025 (+KRW 2.78 billion) and Q3 2025 (–KRW 1.52 billion) shows that non-operating items continue to inject significant volatility into the quarterly net income trend.
South Korea's elementary smart-learning market peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic on surging demand for remote education, and has since entered a structural contraction phase amid the shift to endemic conditions and a declining school-age population.
This industry backdrop underlies Icecream Edu's four consecutive years of revenue decline since 2022.
Rival services such as Woongjin Thinkbig's 'Smart All,' Daekyo's 'Summit,' Visang Education's 'OnlyOne,' and Kyowon's 'AllnG' compete for a similar tablet- and AI-based learning market, making member retention difficult without meaningful content or AI differentiation.
AI tutor and chatbot-based learning diagnostics have increasingly become a standard competitive feature across the industry, with companies pursuing differentiation through proprietary language models or partnerships with large AI firms.
In the public education segment, policy direction on digital textbooks and AI-assisted instruction opens growth potential for B2B/B2G channels, though policy shifts also carry uncertainty.
With the broader industry facing simultaneous subscriber declines and fee pressure, defending profitability through cost efficiency—rather than revenue growth—has emerged as a common management priority across peers.
The company has stated a plan to upgrade the existing Icecream Homerun into a 'next-generation K-12 AI platform' spanning learning, assessment, and growth management, while expanding beyond its B2C base into B2B/B2G channels targeting schools, education firms, and public institutions.
The CEO characterized the first-half profit turnaround as both a result of restructuring and a starting point for sustained growth, saying the company intends to make the next-generation AI Homerun a new core growth driver.
Specifically, the company is reshaping how learning checks and parent consultations are handled through the AI teacher 'AI Dream Teacher,' built on an education-specific small language model, while also preparing an overseas push centered on 'CollegeAble,' an AI platform aimed at the US college-admissions market.
Management has also cited strengthening content competitiveness for preschool and middle-school segments to improve subscriber retention, along with expanding public-sector support programs through education welfare initiatives, as performance-improvement measures.
Still, sustaining profitability through cost cuts alone becomes harder if revenue continues to decline, and translating AI platform investment into actual subscriber retention and new school or institutional contracts is seen as the key factor separating outcomes going forward.
At the same time, the company faces a dual challenge of pursuing business expansion while simultaneously meeting listing-maintenance requirements tied to its administrative-issue designation and managing its remaining convertible bond balance.
Net income attributable to owners swung from a surplus in 2022 to large losses in 2023–2024, and even in 2025 the company failed to escape a net loss despite an operating profit turnaround; by 2026, however, quarterly results show both operating profit and net income maintaining a surplus trend, suggesting a phase of profit recovery.
The price-to-book ratio trades at a considerable discount to net asset value, which can be interpreted as the market pricing in recent years of weak results along with uncertainty tied to the listing-maintenance issue.
Dividends have not been paid in recent fiscal years, making dividend-based valuation metrics of limited use here.
Since its KOSDAQ listing, the stock's valuation band has shifted several times through periods of volatility, but more recently a non-operating factor—the administrative-issue designation—has weighed heavily on price action, limiting how much can be inferred from earnings metrics alone.
Whether the profit recovery proves durable, together with whether listing-maintenance requirements are met, will likely need to be confirmed before a clearer valuation picture emerges.
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
In both Q1 and Q2 2026, cost of sales and SG&A expenses were cut by more than 30%, driving consecutive quarterly surpluses in operating profit and net income. The gross margin rising from 36.9% to 47.2% despite lower revenue shows that cost-efficiency efforts are having a tangible effect. Management stated that efficiency efforts pursued since 2024 became visible starting late last year.
Operating cash flow improved markedly from KRW –8.0 billion in 2023 to KRW 4.6 billion in 2024 and KRW 9.7 billion in 2025. The debt ratio also declined from 99.6% in 2024 to 57.3% in 2025, indicating an improving financial structure. This provides some capacity to absorb liquidity pressures such as convertible bond redemptions going forward.
The company aims to elevate Homerun into a next-generation AI platform spanning learning, assessment, and growth management, while expanding into B2B/B2G markets.
New services such as the AI teacher 'AI Dream Teacher' and the US college-admissions-focused 'CollegeAble' are in preparation, and if successfully adopted could diversify the company's revenue base.
Revenue has declined for four straight years, from KRW 133.8 billion in 2022 to KRW 91.6 billion in 2025. The core product, Icecream Homerun, accounts for 99.2% of revenue, indicating limited progress on diversification, with both subscriber counts and average monthly fees trending lower.
Operating profit was a surplus of KRW 1.4 billion in 2025, but net income attributable to owners remained negative at KRW –1.1 billion. Large net losses of KRW –23.5 billion and KRW –6.2 billion in 2023 and 2024 caused equity to shrink from KRW 67.2 billion in 2022 to KRW 42.6 billion in 2025.
In August 2026, a market-cap shortfall and a penny-stock condition (price under KRW 1,000) combined to add administrative-issue designation reasons, and failure to meet the standard for at least 45 of 90 trading days could trigger delisting procedures.
Because the designation constituted an event of default under bond terms, convertible bond holders exercised early-redemption (put) options, and the company still carries a remaining redemption burden even after repaying part of the balance.
In August 2026, the company was cited for both a market-cap shortfall below KRW 20 billion and a penny-stock condition (price under KRW 1,000 for 30 consecutive trading days), adding to its administrative-issue designation.
If the standard is not met for at least 45 of the following 90 trading days, formal delisting procedures could begin, making price and market-cap recovery over the coming months a decisive factor for continued listing.
A declining school-age population combined with waning remote-education demand after the shift to endemic conditions has put the smart-learning market itself in contraction.
With both subscriber numbers and per-user fees for the core Homerun product declining simultaneously, there is a structural constraint on any revenue rebound.
The administrative-issue designation triggered an event of default under the convertible bond agreement, prompting bondholders to exercise early-redemption claims, and the company still carries a remaining redemption burden even after repaying a significant portion. If additional funding needs arise while revenue continues to decline, this could pressure financial stability.
The Q3 report should confirm whether the revenue decline continues alongside the operating-profit surplus trend, and whether the cost-cutting effects remain durable through the third quarter.
The window for determining whether the company meets the standard for at least 45 of 90 trading days since its administrative-issue designation approaches. It will be important to check whether the stock price and market cap satisfy the requirement, and whether the company discloses separate shareholder-protection measures such as a reverse stock split.
Ongoing monitoring is needed on whether further convertible bond redemption claims arise and on the company's cash capacity to respond.
Progress on B2B/B2G contracts for the AI teacher 'AI Dream Teacher' and the next-generation AI Homerun platform, as well as the rollout status of the US-focused 'CollegeAble,' should be checked to see whether new businesses are translating into actual revenue contribution.
Icecream Edu has moved past the large losses of 2023–2024, posting consecutive operating and net profit surpluses in Q1 and Q2 2026, demonstrating the results of cost efficiency efforts.
However, this profit recovery stems from cuts in cost of sales and SG&A rather than revenue growth, leaving questions about durability as long as subscriber numbers and fees for the core Icecream Homerun product keep declining.
At the same time, the addition of an administrative-issue designation in August 2026—triggered by both a market-cap shortfall and a penny-stock condition—has made the non-operating risk of whether the company can clear listing-maintenance standards within a 90-trading-day window its most significant variable.
Liquidity pressure from convertible bond early-redemption claims must also be managed concurrently.
The company is seeking a turnaround through diversification into a next-generation AI platform and B2B/B2G/overseas expansion, but whether these new initiatives translate into actual revenue and subscriber retention still needs to be confirmed.
Investors would need to watch both the durability of the earnings recovery and whether listing-maintenance requirements are met.
Report written 2026-09-05 · Data as of 2026-09-04
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