Netmarble: Profit Recovery Since 2023 Meets a Share Price Down 41.8% Over One Year

Thesis

The data supports a clear earnings recovery: operating income went from a ₩68.5B loss in 2023 to ₩215.6B in 2024 and ₩352.5B in 2025, and the trailing figure is ₩334.8B. Free cash flow of ₩298.1B and cash of ₩809.7B against borrowings of ₩199.4B point to a solid balance sheet. Against this, the share price has fallen 11.5% over three months and 41.8% over one year, and sits close to its 52-week low, so the market is not rewarding the recovery. Revenue growth has been modest at 6.4% in 2025. One news headline (Asia Economy, 2026-10-13) says a new title's release date needs confirmation and that a target price was lowered, but the data gives no detail on the title or the reasoning. Return on equity of 7.0% is still low, and trailing net income of ₩396.4B exceeds operating income, so non-operating items may have contributed; the data does not break this down.

Business overview

Netmarble (code 251270) is a KOSPI-listed software company founded on 2011-11-17 and listed on 2017-05-12, with 85,953,502 listed shares. The CEO is listed as 김병규. Market capitalization is ₩2.9T and enterprise value is ₩2.3T. Revenue has stayed in a range of ₩2.5T to ₩2.8T since 2021: ₩2.51T in 2021, ₩2.67T in 2022, ₩2.50T in 2023, ₩2.66T in 2024 and ₩2.84T in 2025. Trailing revenue to H1 2026 is ₩2.89T. The data does not describe individual products or segments.

Financial analysis

All figures come from filed financial statements (DART), consolidated where available. Revenue grew 6.5% in 2024 and 6.4% in 2025 after a 6.4% decline in 2023. Operating margin improved from -4.1% in 2022 and -2.7% in 2023 to 8.1% in 2024 and 12.4% in 2025; the trailing margin is 11.6%. Net income went from a ₩886.4B loss in 2022 and a ₩255.7B loss in 2023 to ₩25.6B in 2024 and ₩225.0B in 2025; trailing net income is ₩396.4B, a 13.7% net margin. ROE rose from -15.8% in 2022 to 4.1% in 2025 and is 7.0% on a trailing basis. Liabilities to equity are 35.8%. Cash is ₩809.7B, borrowings are ₩199.4B, and trailing free cash flow is ₩298.1B.

Valuation

Current multiples are 7.3x earnings, 0.5x book value and 1.0x sales; EV/EBITDA is not available. The dividend yield is 2.8%. At the end of 2025 the P/E was 18.4x and the P/B 0.8x, so both are lower now, although the P/E drop partly reflects higher trailing earnings. Among peers with data, NC trades at 7.3x earnings and 1.3x book, Krafton at 10.8x and 1.2x, and Hyundai Autoever at 50.5x and 5.1x. Netmarble's P/E matches NC's, and its P/B is below all three peers shown. PearlAbyss and NHN have no multiples in the data.

Catalysts

• The half-year report for June 2026 (filed 2026-08-14) showed trailing operating income of ₩334.8B and free cash flow of ₩298.1B.
• A 2026-10-13 news headline says a new title's release date still needs confirmation, so timing news could matter.
• Several filings on changes in the largest shareholder's holdings (2026-08-07, 2026-09-23, 2026-10-02) and 5%+ holding reports (2026-08-28, 2026-09-23) suggest ownership changes worth monitoring.
• Insider shareholding reports (2026-09-23, 2026-09-29) and trading-plan filings by executives and major shareholders (2026-08-21) are recent.

Risks

• The share price is 41.8% lower over one year and near its 52-week low, which suggests persistent market skepticism.
• Revenue growth has been only around 6% a year, and revenue in 2025 is only about 13% above 2021 levels.
• ROE of 7.0% is modest, and trailing net income exceeding operating income means earnings quality is hard to judge from the data given.
• The news headline points to uncertainty over a new title's release date and a lowered target price from an outside source.
• Investor flows, foreign ownership and short balance data are not available, so positioning cannot be assessed.

Closing view

The filed numbers show a company that has returned to solid profitability with healthy cash generation and modest leverage, and its multiples are low relative to its own year-end 2025 levels and to the peers with data. The share price trend and a headline about release timing show that the market remains cautious, and revenue growth is modest. The data does not resolve whether the recovery is durable, so this is a balance of improving fundamentals and weak sentiment rather than a conclusion either way.

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, 2026InitiationNetmarble: Profit Recovery Since 2023 Meets a Share Price Down 41.8% Over One Year