KOSDAQIT & Software347700

Sphere

₩24,700▲ 7.63%2026-10-02 close

Market Cap

₩1.3T

Turnover

₩54.6B

Volume

2.2M

Shares out.

51.6M

PER

—

PBR

—

EPS

-₩176

Dividend Yield

0.00%

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

Report overview

Revenue Surge, Thin Margins, One-Customer Structure

Since pivoting to aerospace specialty-alloy supply-chain management, quarterly revenue has stepped up sharply, yet the operating margin has thinned into single digits and bottom-line results swing widely with non-operating items.

1
In 2025 consolidated revenue reached KRW 95.6bn with operating profit of KRW 9.05bn (9.5% margin), swinging to profit after three straight loss-making years from 2022 to 2024.
2
Quarterly revenue expanded from KRW 18.9bn in 2Q25 to KRW 77.1bn in 2Q26, but operating profit slipped from KRW 2.09bn to KRW 1.67bn over the same span, showing margin compression.
3
Growth Research noted in a July 2026 report that about 99% of Sphere's revenue comes from SpaceX, which is both the growth engine and the concentration risk.
4
The company is vertically integrating upstream via a 10% stake in Indonesia's ENC nickel smelter, off-take rights and about KRW 34bn of import trade finance.
5
Operating cash flow was negative KRW 14.67bn in 2025 despite the profit swing, and net income has alternated between large gains and losses each quarter.

Business structure

Sphere's core business is global supply-chain management (GSCM) of nickel-based superalloy materials used in rocket engines and propulsion systems for launch companies.

It originated as a digital-healthcare software firm, and after combining with an aerospace specialty-alloy business and changing its name in 2025 its revenue mix was effectively rebuilt, although its KOSDAQ sector tag remains software.

Customer exposure is extremely concentrated: Growth Research analyst Han Yong-hee wrote in a July 2026 report that roughly 99% of revenue comes from SpaceX and expected the supply-chain business to widen into defense, chemicals and energy.

In regulatory filings the counterparty is described only as a US-based global aerospace launch company, with the name and delivered items withheld at the customer's request for trade-secret protection.

The model is asset-light, combining mill vendors and processing partners rather than owning large plants: the company presents a supply system that shortens material lead times from 20-40 weeks at large suppliers to 4-12 weeks. It has also moved upstream.

Through subsidiary Sphere Nickel Cobalt it holds a 10% stake in Indonesia's ENC nickel smelting project, and via subsidiary TS Metal it secured off-take rights to as much as 20% of output. That stake was acquired from Australian miner Nickel Industries Limited (NIC) for USD 240m.

In June 2026 it completed about KRW 34bn of import letters of credit to execute the off-take, including a KRW 4bn usance L/C approved through KB Kookmin Bank backed by K-SURE guarantees.

Competitively, qualified suppliers of aerospace-grade superalloys are scarce, so sourcing networks plus quality and delivery control act as the entry barrier; the company also retains legacy healthcare and pharmaceutical-ingredient operations.

Earnings trend

Quarterly revenue · Operating profit

₩18.9B₩2.1B25Q2₩21.1B-₩1B25Q3₩33.8B₩3.6B25Q4₩45.1B₩700M26Q1₩77.1B₩1.7B26Q2

RevenueOperating profit

Annual revenue · Operating profit

₩2.8B-₩5.6B2022₩3.3B-₩9.6B2023₩2.6B-₩6.4B2024₩95.6B₩9.1B2025

RevenueOperating profit

Quarterly results · Last 5 quarters
Quarter	Revenue	Operating profit	Op. margin
2025Q2	₩18.9B	₩2.1B	11.1%
2025Q3	₩21.1B	-₩1B	−4.7%
2025Q4	₩33.8B	₩3.6B	10.8%
2026Q1	₩45.1B	₩700M	1.6%
2026Q2	₩77.1B	₩1.7B	2.2%

Annual results
Year	Revenue	Operating profit	Net income (parent)	Op. margin	ROE	Debt-to-equity
2022	₩2.8B	-₩5.6B	-₩3.3B	−199.0%	−35.0%	173.0%
2023	₩3.3B	-₩9.6B	-₩11.3B	−288.4%	−125.5%	112.1%
2024	₩2.6B	-₩6.4B	-₩17B	−249.2%	−54.4%	42.8%
2025	₩95.6B	₩9.1B	₩200M	9.5%	0.3%	49.9%

Consolidated basis (financial statements including subsidiaries) · Final figures from DART filings · Net income attributable to owners of the parent · Data as of 2026-09-04

Earnings analysis

The inflection point was 2025. Revenue stayed at KRW 2.82bn in 2022, KRW 3.33bn in 2023 and KRW 2.56bn in 2024 before jumping to KRW 95.64bn in 2025, while operating results swung from losses of KRW 5.61bn, KRW 9.59bn and KRW 6.37bn in 2022-2024 to a KRW 9.05bn profit in 2025 (9.5% margin).

Net profit attributable to owners, however, was only KRW 0.17bn in 2025, far below operating profit, meaning non-operating and financial items absorbed most of the gain. Quarterly revenue rose in steps: KRW 18.86bn in 2Q25, KRW 21.10bn in 3Q25, KRW 33.83bn in 4Q25, KRW 45.07bn in 1Q26 and KRW 77.06bn in 2Q26.

Operating profit did not follow, printing KRW 2.09bn, negative KRW 0.99bn, KRW 3.64bn, KRW 0.71bn and KRW 1.67bn respectively, leaving both 2026 first-half quarters with margins in the 2% range.

Summing the latest four quarters (3Q25-2Q26) gives revenue of KRW 157.06bn and operating profit of KRW 5.03bn, a margin in the 3% range, with an attributable net loss of KRW 8.69bn over the same period.

Quarterly net results flipped sign repeatedly, at plus KRW 21.19bn in 2Q25, minus KRW 20.87bn in 4Q25, plus KRW 39.79bn in 1Q26 and minus KRW 24.29bn in 2Q26; given that the company has raised sizeable liquidity through resale of convertible bonds, valuation effects on financial instruments appear to be a major driver.

The balance sheet improved, with equity rising from KRW 31.25bn in 2024 to KRW 63.63bn in 2025 and the debt-to-equity ratio falling from 173.0% in 2022 to 49.9% in 2025, though this reflects capital raising more than retained earnings.

Finally, 2025 operating cash flow was negative KRW 14.67bn, a fourth consecutive year of outflow, consistent with the working-capital drag typical of a trading-style business scaling up inventory purchases and receivables.

Industry analysis

The key end-market driver is the shift of large reusable launch vehicles into volume production.

Growth Research noted that while the incumbent Falcon 9 relied on aluminum-centric materials, Starship, aimed at reusability and deep-space missions, requires nickel-based specialty alloys, and that SpaceX is building a mass-production system targeting operation of its large Giga Bay facility by end-2026 and 1,000 units a year.

Material cycles also diverge by grade. According to commodity research house CRU, low-grade Class 2 nickel is in surplus while high-purity Class 1 nickel used in aerospace, defense and advanced materials remains in deficit.

Tighter supply-chain rules such as the US Inflation Reduction Act have raised the importance of traceable, high-quality nickel. Indonesia's government is pushing beyond nickel pig iron toward Class 1 nickel and MHP output to foster higher-value downstream industries.

On the outlook side, a second-half innovation-growth industry report released by Shinhan Financial Group in May 2026 pointed to a Starlink subscriber forecast of 13m by end-2026 and the far larger per-launch network capacity of Starship V3 as evidence of a space-platform build-out phase.

Sphere's competitive position is closer to integrator than manufacturer.

Where large mill vendors demand long lead times and bulk orders, Sphere has positioned itself as the aggregator that compresses delivery schedules, but that also means much of the value sits in raw-material purchase costs, leaving a structurally thin margin profile.

Outlook

The order flow is accumulating through verifiable filings. Between 1 January and 15 June 2026 the company disclosed eight supply contracts totaling KRW 154.75bn, up 227.8% from KRW 47.21bn in the year-earlier period.

Individual items included a roughly KRW 28.1bn specialty-alloy raw-material contract in March 2026 running from 25 March to 3 August and a roughly KRW 20.16bn contract disclosed on 10 June covering June 2026 to February 2027.

The company stated that cumulative awards from the US launch-vehicle customer stand at about KRW 350bn.

On 3 August 2026 a conditional contract amount was revised up from KRW 24.99bn to KRW 49.05bn, and the company said deliveries under the contract first disclosed on 19 February were completed at a final award value of KRW 43.19bn.

Upstream, the ENC project targets annual production of 72,000 tonnes of high-purity nickel from the end of 2026.

Management's stance is aggressive: Sphere announced 2025 annual revenue of KRW 95.6bn and defined 2026 as a year of a quantum jump, and said it would sustain growth on its supply-chain management capability starting with commercial production at the Indonesian smelter.

As an external estimate, Growth Research projected in its July 2026 report 2026 revenue of KRW 240bn and operating profit of KRW 17.5bn, up 150.9% and 93.3% year on year.

That said, the same report flagged that delays in the main customer's launch and mass-production schedules could amplify earnings volatility, requiring ongoing monitoring of project progress.

Valuation

PER

—

PBR

—

ROE

-7.4%

EPS

-₩176

BPS

—

Dividend per share

₩0

Because the attributable bottom line over the latest four quarters is negative, no price-to-earnings ratio is computable, so earnings-based multiples currently offer little grip on the company.

Instead the shares trade at a substantial premium to net assets, which reads as a scenario already discounting the Starship production shift and upstream nickel integration rather than reported results.

It is worth noting that self-calculated book value per share differs from the exchange-published basis, so the multiples shown on screen vary with the calculation method. There is no dividend history, so no dividend yield can be derived, and free cash is being directed into material purchases and the nickel project.

Ultimately the valuation debate hinges less on absolute multiples than on whether the operating margin recovers from the 2% range after the second half of 2026, whether ENC commercial production shows up in reported profit, and whether the financial-income swings that whipsaw net results settle down.

For reference, Growth Research said in its July 2026 report that the company was likely to be awarded a premium as a global aerospace-materials supply-chain firm.

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 2026-09-04

Bull factors

Direct exposure to the launch-vehicle material shift

The structural demand backdrop is that unlike earlier aluminum-centric vehicles, Starship, designed for reusability and deep space, requires nickel-based specialty alloys.

With analysis that SpaceX is building a mass-production system targeting a large facility launch by end-2026 and 1,000 units a year, the volume of material sourcing is set to expand.

Sphere has positioned itself as the tier-one supply-chain operator managing that volume, and its revenue has indeed stepped up since 2025.

Accumulating orders and upsized contracts

Supply contracts disclosed from January to 15 June 2026 totaled KRW 154.75bn across eight deals, up 227.8% year on year. The company said cumulative awards from the US launch-vehicle customer are around KRW 350bn.

In August 2026 a conditional contract amount was revised up from KRW 24.99bn to KRW 49.05bn, while the February disclosure was reported as fully delivered at KRW 43.19bn, showing contracts converting into actual shipments.

Upstream integration and sourcing finance

A 10% stake in the ENC nickel smelting project plus off-take rights to up to 20% of output give the company a base for upstream integration. In June 2026 it opened about KRW 34bn of import letters of credit to execute the off-take, clearing bank reviews on the back of K-SURE guarantees.

Given CRU's view that high-purity Class 1 nickel remains in deficit, securing raw-material access matters for sourcing stability.

Bear factors

Thinner margins despite surging revenue

The 2025 full-year operating margin was 9.5%, but 1Q26 produced only KRW 0.71bn of operating profit on KRW 45.07bn of revenue and 2Q26 KRW 1.67bn on KRW 77.06bn, pushing margins into the 2% range.

For the latest four quarters combined, revenue of KRW 157.06bn and operating profit of KRW 5.03bn imply a margin in the 3% range. If profit does not scale with revenue, top-line growth alone cannot carry the profitability case.

Single-customer and conditional-contract dependence

Growth Research estimated in its July 2026 report that about 99% of revenue comes from SpaceX. The company itself stated in a filing that conditional contracts may be changed or cancelled in whole or part by the counterparty and that investors should weigh this carefully.

The same report listed potential delays in the main customer's launch and production schedules as a checkpoint that could amplify earnings volatility.

Cash outflow and funding reliance

Operating cash flow was negative KRW 14.67bn in 2025 even after the swing to operating profit, following negative KRW 5.12bn, KRW 10.27bn and KRW 5.79bn in 2022-2024. Equity rising from KRW 31.25bn in 2024 to KRW 63.63bn in 2025 also owes more to capital raising than to retained earnings.

The company said proceeds would go into specialty-alloy material purchases, completion and commissioning of the Indonesian smelter, and settlement of off-take import payments, implying continued cash needs.

Risk factors

Customer concentration and contract variability

Most revenue comes from a single overseas customer, and filings identify the counterparty only as a US-based global aerospace launch company, withholding details such as delivered items.

The company explained that conditional awards may be cancelled in whole or part at the counterparty's request, in which case a correction or termination filing could follow. With large contract sizes and some short delivery windows, quarterly revenue can swing widely.

Funding, dilution and net-income volatility

Quarterly net results flipped from plus KRW 39.79bn in 1Q26 to minus KRW 24.29bn in 2Q26, a swing largely unrelated to operations. The company has funded expansion in aerospace and critical minerals through resale of convertible bonds.

Financing carrying conversion features can move net income via valuation gains and losses and can alter the share count later, so net income alone is a poor gauge of performance.

Overseas project, commodity and FX exposure

The ENC project targets 72,000 tonnes of annual output from the end of 2026, so any slippage in completion and commissioning would defer the benefit of upstream integration. Indonesian policy and infrastructure conditions and nickel price moves lie outside the company's control.

Supply contracts are struck in US dollars and converted at the disclosure-date exchange rate, adding currency-driven swings to won-denominated revenue and margins.

What to watch next

September-October 2026
Media report that the key customer faces its first quarterly results release after its Nasdaq listing (reports on the listing date and IPO price, August 2026; preliminary information). The customer's launch, production and capex commentary is leading information for Sphere's order flow.
Mid-November 2026
The 3Q26 quarterly report. Key items are whether the operating margin recovers from the 2% range seen in the first two quarters of 2026 and whether revenue growth translates into better operating cash flow.
Fourth quarter of 2026
Watch whether the ENC smelter, targeting 72,000 tonnes of high-purity nickel annually from the end of 2026, starts commercial production, and when off-take volumes are actually recognized in purchases and sales. Any delay pushes back the cost benefit of upstream integration.
Through the second half of 2026
Track the count and value of single supply-contract filings and any corrections or terminations of conditional deals. As in the most recent case, conditional amounts can be revised upward, but they can also be cut or cancelled, so cumulative awards should be read alongside completed delivery values.
February-March 2027
The 2026 annual results and business report. This will allow comparison against Growth Research's July 2026 estimate of KRW 240bn revenue and KRW 17.5bn operating profit, along with customer concentration, remaining convertible bonds and changes in the share count.

Overall view

Sphere is classified under software, but in substance it runs a global sourcing and supply-chain management business for aerospace nickel-based specialty alloys.

On confirmed figures the pivot is clear: revenue expanded from KRW 2.56bn in 2024 to KRW 95.64bn in 2025, operating results swung from three consecutive annual losses to a KRW 9.05bn profit in 2025, and quarterly revenue reached KRW 77.06bn in 2Q26.

Yet operating profit in that quarter was only KRW 1.67bn, 2025 operating cash flow was negative KRW 14.67bn, and net results keep flipping sign by large amounts each quarter.

The bullish case rests on analysis that launch-vehicle materials are shifting to nickel-based alloys while the customer builds a mass-production system, rising cumulative orders, and upstream integration via the ENC stake and off-take rights.

The bearish case rests on concentration with roughly 99% of revenue from one customer, the possibility that conditional contracts are changed or cancelled, and thin margins alongside funding-dependent finances.

The sequence to verify from here is margin recovery, ENC commercial production showing up in reported profit, orders converting into deliveries, and calmer financial-income swings. This report is for information purposes only and contains no buy or sell opinion and no target price.

Sources

Korea Exchange (KRX) — Prices · Market Cap · Volume
FSS electronic disclosure system (DART) — Financial statements · Dividend filings

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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.