Korea Aerospace Industries: Shares Fall From 52-Week High as Earnings Multiples Stay Elevated

Thesis

The data supports a picture of a company with growing sales over the longer term but thin margins. Operating margin was 5.7% on a trailing basis as of H1 2026, versus 7.3% in 2025. Revenue over the last twelve months of ₩4.4T is above the 2025 full-year figure of ₩3.7T, but profit has not grown at the same pace.

The share price is 8.1% below... no longer near its peak: it sits 46.4% below the 52-week high and 21.4% above the 52-week low of ₩95,100. The one-year return is still +7.9%, so the recent decline follows a larger earlier rise.

What the data does not show: investor flows, foreign ownership, short balance and news headlines are all unavailable, so the reasons behind the recent price drop cannot be confirmed from this data. Order backlog and guidance are also not included.

Business overview

Korea Aerospace Industries (code 047810) is listed on KOSPI in the Aerospace & Defense sector. It was founded on 1999-10-01 and listed on 2011-06-30, with 97,475,107 listed shares. Market capitalization is about ₩11.3T and enterprise value about ₩13.8T.

Revenue rose from ₩2.6T in 2021 to ₩3.7T in 2025. The path was uneven: growth of 8.8% in 2022, 37.0% in 2023, a 4.9% decline in 2024 and 1.7% growth in 2025. The data does not break revenue down by product or customer.

Financial analysis

All figures come from filed financial statements (DART). Operating income was ₩269.2B in 2025, up from ₩240.7B in 2024 and ₩58.3B in 2021. Net income was ₩185.9B in 2025 versus ₩172.1B in 2024 and ₩224.0B in 2023. Operating margin has moved from 2.3% in 2021 to 7.3% in 2025. ROE was 10.5% in 2025, below 14.8% in 2023.

On a trailing basis to H1 2026, revenue was ₩4.4T, operating income ₩252.7B and net income ₩177.3B, giving an operating margin of 5.7%, a net margin of 4.0% and ROE of 9.8%.

The balance sheet is stretched: liabilities to equity is 484.2%, borrowings are ₩2.7T and cash is ₩163.6B. Trailing free cash flow is negative at ₩805.6B. The data does not explain the cause, such as advance payments or capital spending.

Valuation

The current P/E is 63.5, P/B 5.9 and P/S 2.5, with a dividend yield of 0.4%. At the end of 2025 the P/E was 60 and P/B 6.1, so multiples are similar to year-end levels. Earlier year-end multiples are not available. EV/EBITDA is not available.

Among peers with data, Hanwha Aerospace trades at a P/E of 22.0 and P/B of 3.7, and LIG Defense&Aerospace at a P/E of 45.7 and P/B of 8.2. Korea Aerospace Industries has the highest P/E of the three and a P/B between the two. Other listed peers have no multiples in the data.

Catalysts

• A major sales or supply contract was filed on 2026-10-08, following an amended contract filing on 2026-08-31; contract values are not in the data provided.
• Several 5%+ holding reports were filed between 2026-08-10 and 2026-10-06, indicating changes among large shareholders.
• The half-year report for June 2026 was filed on 2026-08-14 and underpins the current trailing figures.
• An investor relations event was filed for 2026-09-04, though its content is not available in the data.
• An insider shareholding report was filed on 2026-08-26.

Risks

• The P/E of 63.5 is high relative to peers with data and to the company's own 9.8% ROE, which leaves the valuation sensitive to earnings disappointments.
• Liabilities to equity of 484.2% and borrowings of ₩2.7T versus cash of ₩163.6B indicate heavy leverage.
• Trailing free cash flow of negative ₩805.6B shows operations and investment are consuming cash.
• Operating margin slipped from 7.3% in 2025 to 5.7% trailing, and revenue growth has been volatile over the past five years.
• Missing data on flows, foreign ownership, short interest and news limits visibility into what is driving the share price decline of 19.5% over three months.

Closing view

The filings show a company with higher sales and improved margins compared with 2021, but returns have eased from 2023 levels, leverage is high and free cash flow is negative. The share price has fallen sharply from its 52-week high, yet multiples remain high against the peers with data. Without flow, ownership or news data, the evidence is incomplete, and the picture is mixed rather than clearly favorable or unfavorable.

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, 2026InitiationKorea Aerospace Industries: Shares Fall From 52-Week High as Earnings Multiples Stay Elevated