PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are calculated in-house from the last 4 quarters (2025Q3–2026Q2) · Dividend yield is based on ₩92 per share · Prices as of the 2026-10-02 close
SOCAR is using improved profitability in its core car-sharing business as a springboard to expand into autonomous driving and vehicle commerce.
In 2025, consolidated revenue reached KRW 470.7 billion with operating profit of KRW 23.2 billion (operating margin 4.9%), turning the full-year operating result positive.
Operating profit stayed positive for eight consecutive quarters through 2Q26, but net income attributable to owners has swung sharply quarter to quarter due to one-off items such as subsidiary impairment charges.
With Kraton, SOCAR established the autonomous-driving joint venture APX Mobility and unveiled a three-stage roadmap from data sales to ride-hailing.
The company paid its first cash dividend since listing and carried out two rounds of share buybacks earmarked for cancellation, launching a shareholder-return policy.
In the domestic car-sharing market, surveys have long shown SOCAR maintaining a wide share gap over second-ranked Greencar.
Founded in 2011, SOCAR is Korea's largest car-sharing platform, pursuing a 'full-stack mobility' strategy built on two pillars: the short-term rental service 'SOCAR' and the subscription-style 'SOCAR Plan' for monthly-or-longer use, aiming to manage the entire lifecycle of vehicle usage.
The company also operates affiliated services such as the parking-sharing platform 'Modu's Parking Lot' and the e-bike sharing service 'Elecle', building a super-app ecosystem. Car-sharing accounts for the overwhelming majority of revenue, with platform and other segments making up the rest.
One breakdown shows revenue composition at 82.70% car-sharing, 9.40% other, and 7.90% platform. In the domestic car-sharing market, SOCAR has long maintained a wide gap over the No. 2 player, Greencar; one survey found SOCAR's monthly active user share at 86.6% versus 22.4% for Greencar (as of January 2024).
In February 2026, the company launched the premium car-sharing service 'Black Label' targeting corporate and long-distance demand, and by the second quarter, the number of Black Label vehicles in operation had grown roughly tenfold from the early pilot stage, with per-vehicle revenue 61% higher and per-vehicle gross profit 103% higher than standard car-sharing vehicles.
In 2026, SOCAR established the autonomous-driving joint venture APX Mobility with Kraton, seeking to channel the driving and accident data accumulated through car-sharing into a new autonomous-driving business.
Beyond Greencar (a Lotte Rental affiliate), competitors include Kakao Mobility and Trucar, but multiple surveys have found SOCAR retaining a clear lead in both revenue scale and user base.
| Quarter | Revenue | Operating profit | Op. margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025Q2 | ₩98.7B | ₩1.8B | 1.9% |
| 2025Q3 | ₩111.8B | ₩6.8B | 6.1% |
| 2025Q4 | ₩128.7B | ₩13.2B | 10.2% |
| 2026Q1 | ₩97.1B | ₩1.4B | 1.4% |
| 2026Q2 | ₩121B | ₩6.8B | 5.6% |
| Year | Revenue | Operating profit | Net income (parent) | Op. margin | ROE | Debt-to-equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | ₩397.6B | ₩9.5B | -₩18.1B | 2.4% | −7.3% | 136.6% |
| 2023 | ₩398.5B | -₩9.7B | -₩42.3B | −2.4% | −20.0% | 220.7% |
| 2024 | ₩431.8B | -₩9.8B | -₩31B | −2.3% | −16.9% | 244.2% |
| 2025 | ₩470.7B | ₩23.2B | -₩18.4B | 4.9% | −11.2% | 256.7% |
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
Annual results show revenue of KRW 397.6 billion and operating profit of KRW 9.5 billion (operating margin 2.4%) in 2022, followed by two consecutive years of operating losses—revenue of KRW 398.5 billion with an operating loss of KRW 9.7 billion in 2023, and revenue of KRW 431.8 billion with an operating loss of KRW 9.8 billion in 2024—before the company returned to an operating profit of KRW 23.2 billion (margin 4.9%) on revenue of KRW 470.7 billion in 2025.
However, net income attributable to owners remained negative for four straight years from 2022 to 2025 (-KRW 18.1 billion, -KRW 42.3 billion, -KRW 31.0 billion, and -KRW 18.4 billion respectively), meaning the operating-level improvement has not yet fully translated into bottom-line profitability.
On a quarterly basis, 3Q25 posted an operating profit of KRW 6.8 billion and net income of KRW 1.6 billion, but 4Q25, despite a strong operating profit of KRW 13.2 billion, saw net income deteriorate sharply to -KRW 14.7 billion, driven by a one-off factor: an impairment charge of roughly KRW 24.8 billion related to consolidated subsidiary Nine to One.
In 1Q26, operating profit was KRW 1.4 billion (down 1.8% year over year) with net income of -KRW 8.8 billion, though the company noted the lifetime value (LTV) of sold vehicles improved 48% versus the 2022-2023 average, while monthly revenue and gross profit per vehicle rose 11% and 34% respectively versus 1Q23.
In 2Q26, results improved markedly to revenue of KRW 121.0 billion, operating profit of KRW 6.8 billion, and net income of KRW 6.5 billion, with the company stating it had achieved eight consecutive quarters of operating profit and two consecutive quarters of net income profitability simultaneously (this net-income streak refers to the standalone, non-consolidated basis; consolidated net income attributable to owners has continued to show quarter-to-quarter volatility).
On a cash-flow basis, operating cash flow swung from large outflows of -KRW 62.7 billion in 2022 and -KRW 109.6 billion in 2023 to positive KRW 3.3 billion in 2024 and KRW 50.8 billion in 2025, signaling a clear recovery in cash generation.
In sum, improved per-vehicle profitability in the core car-sharing business drove the return to operating profit, but subsidiary-related impairments and new-business investment continue to add volatility to net income.
In Korea's car-sharing market, SOCAR has long held a dominant No. 1 position, with multiple surveys consistently confirming a wide gap over No. 2 player Greencar (a Lotte Rental affiliate).
One assessment noted that the gap between SOCAR and Greencar, which launched around the same time and effectively split the domestic car-sharing market for years, keeps widening further.
As the view spreads that short-term car-sharing alone offers limited growth headroom, companies in the sector are expanding into subscriptions, used-car commerce, and autonomous driving.
Global competition in autonomous driving is accelerating: overseas, commercialization has already begun, with 65 robotaxis developed by Amazon's autonomous-driving unit Zoox—without a steering wheel or pedals—roaming the streets of Las Vegas.
In Korea, there is still no commercialized case of Level 4 autonomous ride-hailing, leaving data and technology competition at an early stage.
Against this backdrop, SOCAR has also worked on institutional groundwork, signing a memorandum of understanding for the development of the autonomous vehicle rental industry together with autonomous-driving firm APX Mobility, the Korea Rent-a-Car Association, and the Korea Transport Institute.
The domestic micro-mobility market spanning car-sharing, parking, and bike-sharing remains sensitive to regulatory shifts and competition among conglomerate-affiliated players.
The company frames 2026 as the year the results of its 'SOCAR 2.0' strategy fully show up in earnings, pursuing profitability improvement in the core car-sharing business alongside new-business expansion.
For the second half, plans call for an expanded electric-vehicle lineup including roughly 800 Tesla Model Y units, alongside continuation of the free EV mileage-fee policy aimed at boosting usage hours.
In autonomous driving, the company participated in the Autonomous Mobility Expo (AME 2026) at COEX in August 2026, positioning itself as the largest domestic autonomous-driving data platform and formally launching its data-sales business, and in July made an additional KRW 10 billion capital injection into autonomous-driving subsidiary APX Mobility, its second cash infusion following the KRW 65 billion invested in May.
Brokerages have issued forecasts reflecting expectations of earnings improvement; in a May 27, 2026 report, DS Investment & Securities projected SOCAR's 2026 revenue at KRW 490.3 billion and operating profit at KRW 30.0 billion (implying year-over-year growth of 4.2% and 29.2%, respectively).
In the same report, the analyst stated that "if 2025 was the founding year of profitability improvement, 2026 will be the founding year of front-market expansion." On the shareholder-return front, further buybacks, cancellations, and possible dividend increases have been discussed, though these depend on whether net income stabilizes going forward.
SOCAR's share price appears to have traded with a degree of premium relative to net asset value, which can be interpreted as partly reflecting market expectations for growth from new businesses such as autonomous driving.
However, since the company has posted owner net losses in recent years while only recently turning the operating line from loss to profit, assessments of earnings stability remain a point on which views can differ.
On the dividend front, the company is at an early stage, having paid its first dividend only recently since listing, which limits sector comparisons given the short track record.
Some in the brokerage community have suggested that the combination of autonomous-driving expansion and stabilizing car-sharing profitability warrants a fresh look at enterprise value, though this reflects the view of a specific analyst and may be assessed differently by other market participants.
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
After swinging from a 2.4% operating margin in 2022 to two consecutive years of operating losses in 2023-2024, the company returned to profit with a 4.9% operating margin in 2025 and maintained eight consecutive quarters of operating profit through 2Q26.
Operating cash flow also improved markedly, from a large outflow of -KRW 109.6 billion in 2023 to an inflow of KRW 50.8 billion in 2025. Improving per-vehicle revenue and gross-profit metrics underpin this trend.
Through APX Mobility, co-founded with Kraton, the company unveiled a three-stage roadmap running from data sales to ride-hailing and robo-buses. It is positioning its roughly 1.1 million km of daily real-world driving data and 220,000 accident-data cases as a competitive asset.
DS Investment & Securities stated in a May 2026 report that it raised its target price to reflect this growth potential.
The company paid its first cash dividend since listing and subsequently carried out two rounds of share buybacks explicitly earmarked for cancellation. Management has said it is moving shareholder returns from a one-time gesture to a repeated practice, underpinned by improving core profitability. The scale remains modest so far, making future expansion a point to watch.
Consolidated revenue in 1Q26 was KRW 97.1 billion, down 26.1% from KRW 131.5 billion a year earlier, and subscription/commerce revenue also fell sharply due to deliberate reductions in used-car sale volumes. Even allowing for seasonal off-peak effects, top-line growth has not been clearly evident.
The fact that profit improvement is coming more from cost and asset efficiency than from revenue growth is a point worth watching from a growth perspective.
In 4Q25, despite a solid operating profit of KRW 13.2 billion, net income deteriorated to -KRW 14.7 billion due to an impairment charge of roughly KRW 24.8 billion related to consolidated subsidiary Nine to One. In 1Q26 as well, net income came in at -KRW 8.8 billion despite a positive operating profit. Net income attributable to owners has remained negative for four consecutive years from 2022 through 2025.
The consolidated debt ratio rose steadily from 136.6% in 2022 to 256.7% in 2025, while owners' equity fell from KRW 247.6 billion to KRW 164.9 billion over the same period. Major private bond maturities are concentrated in the second half of 2026, making refinancing terms a key variable for financial strain. Additional capital injections into the autonomous-driving subsidiary could also add to future funding needs.
With the debt ratio rising from 136.6% in 2022 to 256.7% in 2025, major private bond maturities are concentrated in the second half of 2026.
Guarantees from institutions such as the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund and Seoul Guarantee Insurance mitigate immediate repayment risk, but whether these guarantees are maintained and the interest-rate terms obtained will be key variables for refinancing success. Continued net losses could further weaken the capital buffer.
Autonomous-driving subsidiary APX Mobility has not yet generated revenue, and with investor funding from Kraton and others disbursed over multiple years, SOCAR may face repeated additional capital-call burdens before demonstrable results emerge.
The timing of Level 4 ride-hailing commercialization remains fluid, depending on the pace of domestic regulation and technology validation. If new-business investment outpaces cash generation from the core business, it could translate into financial strain.
In the car-sharing market, competitors such as Greencar (a Lotte Rental affiliate) remain present, and changes in mobility-platform regulation or fee policy could affect profitability.
In autonomous driving, regulatory frameworks both domestically and abroad are still incomplete, leaving uncertainty around the commercialization timeline. Expanded investment by conglomerate-affiliated competitors could also become a variable in the market structure.
A private bond maturity is due, with the repayment or refinancing terms serving as a key variable for whether financial strain eases.
Based on the past disclosure pattern (3Q25 results were released on November 12, 2025), 3Q26 results may be announced around a similar time, offering a chance to check whether the operating-profit streak continues and how net income volatility evolves.
A second private bond maturity falls due, providing—together with the outcome of the October maturity—an indicator of the overall direction of refinancing pressure.
It is worth confirming whether the planned EV lineup expansion—including roughly 800 Tesla Model Y units—is actually executed, and how usage hours and corporate revenue respond as a result.
This is a point to monitor concrete progress on both new-business execution and shareholder returns—namely, results from APX Mobility's data-sales contracts, any further capital injections, and the progress of share cancellations.
SOCAR has demonstrated an improvement in the fundamentals of its core car-sharing business, evidenced by the return to full-year operating profit in 2025 and the continuation of that profitability through the first half of 2026.
However, net income attributable to owners has remained negative for four consecutive years due to one-off factors such as subsidiary impairments, and the debt ratio has risen steadily, warranting continued scrutiny of the balance sheet.
Expansion into new business through the autonomous-driving joint venture APX Mobility is being presented as a medium-to-long-term growth driver, but it remains at an early, pre-revenue stage and may require further capital injections.
The launch of shareholder returns—via the company's first dividend since listing and two rounds of share buybacks earmarked for cancellation—is a positive signal, though the scale remains limited so far.
Multiple events are converging in the second half of 2026, including bond refinancing, 3Q26 earnings, EV lineup expansion, and progress in the autonomous-driving business, and their outcomes are likely to offer important clues about the company's future direction. Continued monitoring of each of these individual events is warranted before drawing any investment conclusions.
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.