Ask Warren

JONBUR Research · Initiation

YC · 232140 · Machinery

YC: Profit Recovery and a Sharp Share Price Rally Lift Multiples Above Their Recent Levels

Why this report

Start of coverage: one of the 300 largest companies, written once its financial statements were in.

YC is a KOSDAQ machinery company with a market cap of ₩1.39T after the share price rose 46.8% in one month and 68.2% over three months. Trailing earnings have recovered from the 2023-2024 trough, but profit remains below 2021 levels and the valuation multiples are high.

Written Oct 13, 2026 · Data as of Oct 12, 2026 · 0 views

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

XfWATGr/in@

Thesis

The data supports an earnings recovery: trailing operating income of ₩33.2B compares with ₩17.0B in 2025 and ₩10.6B in 2024, and the operating margin has risen to 11.4% from 6.2%. The share price at ₩16,950 is 29.8% below its 52-week high of ₩24,150 but 148.5% above its low of ₩6,820, so the stock has been volatile. The trailing P/E of 44.6 and P/B of 3.6 are well above the levels implied by trailing ROE of 8.8%. Frequent supply contract filings, several amended, point to ongoing order activity, but the filings as given do not show contract values or counterparties. Investor flows, foreign ownership, short balance and news headlines are not available, so the sources of the recent price move cannot be assessed from this data.

Business overview

YC (와이씨) is listed on KOSDAQ in the Machinery sector, founded on 2015-10-22 and listed on 2015-12-24. It has 82,045,350 listed shares and is led by co-CEOs 최명배 and 장성진. A change of CEO was filed on 2026-03-26. Revenue was ₩311.3B in 2021, fell to ₩285.3B in 2022, ₩255.2B in 2023 and ₩211.2B in 2024, then rose 29.1% to ₩272.6B in 2025. The data does not describe products or customers.

Financial analysis

All figures come from filed financial statements (DART). Trailing revenue as of H1 2026 is ₩291.6B, with operating income of ₩33.2B (margin 11.4%) and net income of ₩31.2B (margin 10.7%). Trailing ROE is 8.8%. Annual operating margin was 17.5% in 2021, 12.8% in 2022, 3.4% in 2023, 5.0% in 2024 and 6.2% in 2025. Annual ROE moved from 16.0% in 2021 to 3.5% in 2024 and 5.6% in 2025. On the balance sheet, liabilities to equity are 26.8%, cash is ₩69.8B and borrowings are ₩84.4B, so borrowings exceed cash by about ₩14.6B. Trailing free cash flow is ₩23.7B.

Valuation

Current multiples are P/E 44.6, P/B 3.6 and P/S 4.8, with enterprise value of ₩1.41T. EV/EBITDA and dividend yield are not available. At the end of 2025 the P/E was 61.6 and the P/B was 3.2, so the P/E is lower on higher earnings while the P/B is somewhat higher. Earlier year-end multiples are not available. Peers show a wide range: Doosan Enerbility P/E 252.9 and P/B 5.6, Hanmi Semiconductor 108.1 and 32.1, Jusung Engineering 1650 and 20.2, Rainbow Robotics 4456.7 and 57.1, and Wonik IPS 37.1 and 6.0. YC's multiples are at the low end of this group, though the peers differ greatly in size and business. The valuation model estimate (fair_value_model) is not available because it could not be worked out, so no comparison with the share price of ₩16,950 can be made.

Catalysts

  • The half-year report filed on 2026-08-14 showed trailing profit recovering, and the next quarterly report will show whether that continues.
  • Major sales or supply contract filings on 2026-04-13, 2026-06-01 and 2026-08-27, plus amendments on 2026-09-29, suggest continuing order flow.
  • An investor relations event on 2026-09-08 gave management a chance to communicate with investors, though its content is not in the data.
  • The co-CEO structure and the CEO change filed on 2026-03-26 may matter for strategy and execution.

Risks

  • After gains of 46.8% in one month and 68.2% in three months, the share price could be sensitive to a shift in sentiment, and the data cannot explain the drivers.
  • The P/E of 44.6 and P/B of 3.6 are high relative to a trailing ROE of 8.8%, leaving less room for earnings disappointment.
  • Revenue fell for three straight years from 2022 to 2024, and the recent recovery covers only about a year and a half.
  • Trailing operating income of ₩33.2B and revenue of ₩291.6B remain below 2021 levels of ₩54.6B and ₩311.3B.
  • Contract values, flows, foreign ownership and short interest are not available, which limits visibility into the order pipeline and market positioning.

Closing view

The filings show a clear improvement in margins, profit and cash flow from the 2023-2024 low, with a modest liability load. The share price has moved up faster than reported earnings, and multiples sit well above what current returns on equity would typically support. With no model estimate, flow data or news available, the evidence supports a view of a recovering company priced for continued improvement, but it cannot show whether that improvement will last.

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 13, 2026InitiationStart of coverage (300 largest)YC: Profit Recovery and a Sharp Share Price Rally Lift Multiples Above Their Recent Levels

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