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JONBUR Research · Initiation

Yest · 122640 · Machinery

Yest: Revenue Recovering but Profits Thin as Valuation Multiples Stay High

Why this report

Start of coverage: written when a reader opened this company and there was no report yet.

Yest, a KOSDAQ machinery company, closed at ₩25,700 on 2026-10-26, down 19.7% over one month but up 33.0% over one year. Trailing twelve-month profit has returned, yet margins and returns remain modest against a P/E of 88.8 and a P/B of 3.9.

Written Oct 27, 2026 · Data as of Oct 26, 2026 · 0 views

This is not financial advice. The report does not recommend buying or selling anything.

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Thesis

The data supports a recovery story in the numbers: trailing revenue of ₩107.7B is above every annual figure shown since 2021, and operating income is positive at ₩6.4B after losses in 2021 to 2023. Repeated amendments to a major sales or supply contract filing in August and October suggest ongoing contract activity, though the filings shown give no amounts here.

The data does not support a clean picture of earnings strength. Operating margin of 5.9% is well below the 11.3% of 2024, ROE is 4.7%, and free cash flow is negative at ₩5.4B. The share price is ₩25,700 versus a 52-week range of ₩15,200 to ₩44,000, so it is well off its high after a 19.7% fall in one month. Foreign investors were net buyers over 20 days while institutions and retail were net sellers. A news headline mentions diverging expectations ahead of third-quarter earnings; no earnings figures for that quarter are available.

Business overview

Yest (예스티) is listed on KOSDAQ in the Machinery sector. It was founded on 2000-03-06 and listed on 2015-12-16, with 21,651,325 listed shares and a market capitalization of about ₩556.4B. It has co-CEOs, 장동복 and 강임수. Annual revenue rose from ₩72.4B in 2021 to ₩100.1B in 2024, fell 13.0% to ₩87.1B in 2025, and the trailing figure to H1 2026 is ₩107.7B. Foreign ownership is 6.1%, up from 6.0% sixty days earlier, and the short balance is 0.5%. A product or customer breakdown is not available in the data.

Financial analysis

These figures come from filed financial statements. Trailing twelve months to H1 2026: revenue ₩107.7B, operating income ₩6.4B (5.9% margin), net income ₩6.3B (5.8% margin), ROE 4.7%.

Annual history is uneven. Operating income was -₩11.1B in 2021, -₩16.9B in 2022, -₩0.4B in 2023, then ₩11.3B in 2024 (11.3% margin) and ₩3.8B in 2025 (4.4%). Net income was -₩21.7B, -₩2.7B, -₩28.3B, ₩10.4B and -₩0.6B in the same years, so 2025 ended with a small net loss.

Balance sheet: liabilities to equity is 68.4%, cash ₩25.1B against borrowings of ₩68.3B. Trailing free cash flow is -₩5.4B. Enterprise value is about ₩599.6B.

Valuation

Current multiples are P/E 88.8, P/B 3.9, P/S 5.2, with no dividend yield; EV/EBITDA is not available. Year-end P/B was 2.9 in 2025, 1.7 in 2024, 4.8 in 2023, 1.9 in 2022 and 3.6 in 2021, so the current 3.9 is at the upper end of its own history. The only year-end P/E shown is 20.4 for 2024, which compares with 88.8 now because trailing earnings are small relative to the market value.

Peers show a very wide spread: Doosan Enerbility P/E 203.8 and P/B 4.5, Hanmi Semiconductor 79.0 and 23.5, Jusung Engineering 1,074.9 and 13.2, Rainbow Robotics 3,960.9 and 50.7, and EO Technics 43.0 and 6.2. Yest's P/B is below most of these peers, though the group is not a tight comparison.

A valuation model estimate per share is not available because the model could not be worked out, so no comparison with the ₩25,700 price can be made.

Catalysts

  • Third-quarter earnings, which a Korea Economic Daily headline on 2026-10-25 describes as drawing diverging expectations, will show whether the trailing recovery continues.
  • The major sales or supply contract filings amended on 2026-10-20 and 2026-10-22, and filed on 2026-08-25, point to contract activity that could affect revenue.
  • A Money Today headline from 2026-10-15 refers to uncertainty over a patent lawsuit being lifted, though the data gives no details on its status.
  • Foreign investors were net buyers of about ₩4.9B over 20 days while institutions sold about ₩5.7B, so the flow balance may matter for near-term trading.

Risks

  • Profitability is inconsistent, with a net loss in 2025 and operating margin falling from 11.3% in 2024 to 5.9% on a trailing basis.
  • Trailing free cash flow is negative at ₩5.4B while borrowings of ₩68.3B are well above cash of ₩25.1B.
  • A P/E of 88.8 and P/B of 3.9 leave the share price dependent on earnings improving from a low base.
  • The share price fell 19.7% in one month and sits well below its 52-week high of ₩44,000, showing high volatility.
  • Patent lawsuit uncertainty mentioned in news could affect the company, and its details are not available in the data.

Closing view

The filings show a company moving from several loss-making years to positive trailing profit, with revenue at its highest level in the period shown. Against that, margins and returns are modest, cash flow is negative and valuation multiples are high relative to current earnings. No model estimate is available, so the evidence is mixed and rests largely on whether upcoming results and contract activity confirm the recovery.

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).

Filings and data used

Report history

  1. Oct 27, 2026InitiationStart of coverage (reader request)Yest: Revenue Recovering but Profits Thin as Valuation Multiples Stay High

Built only from jonbur's own data: prices and investor flows, filed financial statements and filings, and news headlines. Disclosed (filed) data is labelled as such. Written by AI and may contain mistakes.

This is not financial advice. The report does not recommend buying or selling anything.

Source: KRX statistical information