KIWOOM Securities: Sharp Share Price Drop Alongside Low Multiples and Strong Reported Returns

Thesis

The data shows a stock that has fallen sharply while reported profits have grown. The share price is down 14.4% over one month, 26.4% over three months and 5.0% over one year, and sits about 54% below its 52-week high of ₩517,000. Over the same period, annual net income rose from ₩436.3B in 2023 to ₩1.11T in 2025, and trailing net income is ₩1.72T.

The data does not explain the price decline. Investor flows, foreign ownership and short balance are not available, so we cannot say who has been selling. Trailing free cash flow is negative at ₩12.0T and liabilities are 1,329.2% of equity, so the strong profit figures come with a heavily leveraged balance sheet and large cash outflow.

Business overview

KIWOOM Securities (code 039490) is a financials-sector company listed on KOSPI since 2009-08-03. It was founded in 2000 and is led by CEO 엄주성. It has 26,162,277 listed shares and a market capitalization of about ₩6.2T.

Revenue grew from ₩9.5T in 2023 to ₩11.3T in 2024 (18.2% growth) and ₩17.1T in 2025 (51.8% growth). Recent filings are mostly prospectuses, shelf registration documents for equity-linked derivative-linked bonds and securities issuance results reports, which points to active securities issuance. Recent news covers a new domestic stock order screen on its trading app, a pension savings ETF event and a lowered target price on Hyundai Mobis by its research arm.

Financial analysis

All figures below come from filed financial statements (DART).

Annual revenue rose from ₩9.5T (2023) to ₩11.3T (2024) and ₩17.1T (2025). Operating income went from ₩564.7B to ₩1.10T to ₩1.49T, and net income from ₩436.3B to ₩835.0B to ₩1.11T.

Operating margin was 5.9% in 2023, 9.7% in 2024 and 8.7% in 2025. ROE rose from 9.0% to 16.0% to 18.1%.

On a trailing basis to H1 2026, revenue is ₩34.4T, operating income ₩2.16T and net income ₩1.72T. Operating margin is 6.3%, net margin 5.0% and ROE 26.2%, so the margin is lower than in 2024 and 2025 even as profit grows. Cash is ₩2.67T. Borrowings are not available. Free cash flow is -₩12.0T and liabilities-to-equity is 1,329.2%.

Valuation

Current multiples are P/E 3.6, P/B 0.8, P/S 0.2 and EV/EBITDA 1.6, with a dividend yield of 4.8% and enterprise value of ₩3.6T. At the end of 2025, P/E was 6.8 and P/B was 1.1, so both multiples are lower now. Year-end multiples for 2023 and 2024 are not available.

Among peers, Mirae Asset Securities has P/E 4.3 and P/B 1.0, NH Investment & Securities 5.1 and 0.7, and Samsung Securities 5.1 and 0.9. KIWOOM's P/E is the lowest of these, and its P/B of 0.8 falls between NH and Samsung Securities. Multiples for kakaopay and Samsung Card are not available. Low multiples for brokers can reflect leverage and earnings that vary with the market.

Catalysts

• A run of prospectus, shelf registration and issuance results filings from 2026-10-06 to 2026-10-12 shows ongoing securities issuance that may affect funding and earnings.
• The next financial statements will show whether trailing net income of ₩1.72T and the 6.3% operating margin hold.
• The new domestic stock order screen on its trading app, announced on 2026-10-13, may matter for client activity, though the data gives no usage figures.
• The share price sits near its 52-week low of ₩235,000, so further moves will test that level.
• The 4.8% dividend yield could matter to income-focused holders, though no dividend announcement appears in the data.

Risks

• Negative trailing free cash flow of -₩12.0T is a large cash outflow that the data does not explain.
• Liabilities of 1,329.2% of equity leave the balance sheet sensitive to funding conditions.
• The operating margin has slipped from 9.7% in 2024 to 6.3% on a trailing basis despite higher revenue.
• The 26.4% three-month price drop has no stated cause, and investor flow, foreign ownership and short balance data are not available.
• Revenue growth of 51.8% in 2025 may not continue, and the data gives no guidance.

Closing view

The filed numbers show rapid growth in revenue and profit, high ROE and multiples below both the company's own year-end 2025 levels and most listed peers. Against that, the share price has fallen sharply, free cash flow is deeply negative and leverage is very high. The data does not say why the market has marked the shares down, so the evidence supports both a view that earnings are being undervalued and a view that investors are pricing in balance sheet and cash flow risk.

Model estimate of fair value

The valuation model has no estimate for this company yet (not enough data, or no positive value with the base case).

Report history

1. Oct 13, 2026InitiationKIWOOM Securities: Sharp Share Price Drop Alongside Low Multiples and Strong Reported Returns