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ESR Kendall Square Reit · 365550 · Real estate

ESR Kendall Square Reit: Steady Revenue, Thin Earnings and a Share Price Down 30.4% Over a Year

Why this report

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

ESR Kendall Square Reit has grown revenue every year since 2021, but net income has fallen to near zero as borrowings of ₩1.55T weigh on results. The share price of ₩3,095 is 35.5% below its 52-week high and trades at 0.7 times book value.

Written Oct 22, 2026 · Data as of Oct 21, 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 picture of a stable, income-generating property vehicle: revenue rose from ₩30.1B in 2021 to ₩59.6B in 2025, and the operating margin has stayed in a 43% to 49% range. The trailing dividend yield is 4.4%.

The data does not support a picture of strong bottom-line earnings. Net income was a loss of ₩3.4B in 2025 and only ₩628.6M over the trailing twelve months to H1 2026, a net margin of 1.0%. Borrowing costs appear to absorb most of the operating profit, though the filings given do not break out interest expense.

The share price has fallen 30.4% in a year. Foreign investors were net sellers over the past 20 days (about ₩1.8B) while institutions were net buyers (about ₩2.1B). Foreign ownership eased from 39.6% to 38.9% over 60 days. The short balance is low at 0.3%.

Business overview

ESR Kendall Square Reit is a real estate investment trust listed on the KOSPI since 2020-12-23, with 246,089,000 listed shares and a market capitalisation of about ₩761.6B. It was founded on 2020-02-20 and its CEO is listed as 조주현. The data gives no detail on its property portfolio or tenants, so none is described here.

Revenue growth was 63.0% in 2022 (the first full year after a ₩30.1B 2021), then 8.1% in 2023, 7.4% in 2024 and 4.7% in 2025, so growth has been slowing.

Financial analysis

These figures come from filed financial statements. Trailing twelve-month revenue to H1 2026 was ₩63.9B, with operating income of ₩29.2B (45.8% margin) and net income of ₩628.6M. Return on equity is 0.1%.

Annual net income fell from ₩12.8B in 2022 to ₩11.9B in 2023, ₩3.6B in 2024 and a loss of ₩3.4B in 2025. Operating income was broadly flat in the ₩24B to ₩27B range over 2023 to 2025.

On the balance sheet, borrowings are ₩1,552.8B against cash of ₩127.9B, and liabilities to equity are 151.2%. Trailing free cash flow is ₩16.3B. Several amended borrowing filings were made in September and October 2026, but their terms are not in the data.

Valuation

The price-to-book ratio is 0.7, below 0.9 at the end of 2025 and 2.2 at the end of 2021, and below the peer range of 0.8 to 1.4. The price-to-earnings ratio of 1,211.7 is not meaningful because net income is close to zero; peers range from 48.8 to 154.9. Price-to-sales is 11.9, EV/EBITDA is 74.1, enterprise value is about ₩2.17T and the dividend yield is 4.4%.

The valuation model estimate is not available for this company, so no comparison with the share price can be made.

Catalysts

  • The half-year report filed on 2026-10-15 gives the latest earnings picture, with trailing net income of ₩628.6M.
  • Repeated amended borrowing filings on 2026-09-18 and 2026-10-01 may point to ongoing refinancing activity, though terms are not in the data.
  • Frequent insider shareholding reports in September and October 2026 show ongoing changes in insider holdings.
  • Institutions were net buyers of about ₩2.1B over 20 days, against net foreign selling of about ₩1.8B.

Risks

  • Borrowings of ₩1.55T against cash of ₩127.9B leave earnings sensitive to financing costs.
  • Net income has fallen for three straight years and was negative in 2025.
  • Revenue growth has slowed from 8.1% in 2023 to 4.7% in 2025.
  • The share price is down 30.4% over one year and foreign ownership has edged lower.
  • No news headlines or valuation model estimate are available, which limits the information to judge value.

Closing view

The data shows a business with steady revenue and a consistent operating margin near 46%, a 4.4% dividend yield and a price at 0.7 times book value. Against that, financing costs leave almost no net profit, returns on equity are near zero, and the share price has fallen sharply. Whether the discount to book reflects temporary pressure or lasting weaker earnings power cannot be settled from this data alone, and no model estimate is available to compare with the current price.

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 22, 2026InitiationStart of coverage (reader request)ESR Kendall Square Reit: Steady Revenue, Thin Earnings and a Share Price Down 30.4% Over a Year

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