Kakaopay: Profitability Has Turned Positive, but the Share Price Is Down 28.4% Over a Year

Thesis

The data supports an improving earnings picture. Revenue rose from ₩458.6B in 2021 to ₩958.4B in 2025, and operating income moved from a loss of ₩57.5B in 2024 to a profit of ₩50.4B in 2025. Trailing figures through H1 2026 show an operating margin of 11.1%.

The data does not show that returns have caught up with the valuation. ROE is 4.6%, free cash flow is negative at ₩121.0B, and the P/E of 58.1x is far above the peers listed. The share price has fallen even as profits rose, but the data gives no cause for the decline. Investor flow, foreign ownership and short balance data are not available.

Business overview

Kakaopay is listed on KOSPI in the Financials sector. It was founded on 2017-04-03 and listed on 2021-11-03, and it has 134,991,788 listed shares. CEO is 신원근. Market capitalization is ₩5.1T and enterprise value is ₩3.5T.

The data gives no breakdown of business lines. It shows only that revenue has grown every year in the record, with growth of 13.7% in 2022, 18.0% in 2023, 24.5% in 2024 and 25.1% in 2025. A news headline mentions Kakao Pay Securities and holiday dividends, but the data gives no financial detail on that.

Financial analysis

All figures below come from filed financial statements (DART). Trailing twelve months to H1 2026: revenue ₩1.14T, operating income ₩127.5B, net income ₩87.8B, operating margin 11.1%, net margin 7.7%, ROE 4.6%.

Annual history: operating income was negative from 2021 to 2024, with margins of -5.9%, -8.7%, -9.2% and -7.5%. In 2025 it turned positive at 5.3%. Net income was ₩45.2B in 2025 against a loss of ₩13.7B in 2024. Net income was positive in 2022 (₩54.0B) and 2023 (₩2.5B) despite operating losses.

Balance sheet: cash is ₩1.72T and borrowings are ₩133.3B. Liabilities to equity is 236.5%. Free cash flow is negative at ₩121.0B.

Valuation

Current multiples are P/E 58.1x, P/B 2.6x and P/S 4.5x. EV/EBITDA and dividend yield are not available. At the end of 2025 the P/E was 146.5x and the P/B was 3.5x, so both are lower now, as earnings have grown and the price has fallen. Earlier year-end multiples are not available because of losses.

The peers in the data are Mirae Asset Securities (P/E 4.3x, P/B 1.0x), NH Investment & Securities (5.1x, 0.7x), Samsung Securities (5.1x, 0.9x), KIWOOM Securities (3.6x, 0.8x) and Samsung Card (7.5x, 0.5x). Kakaopay's multiples are well above all of them. The peers are securities and card companies, so the comparison is only partly like-for-like.

Catalysts

• Two related-party transaction filings on 2026-09-29 may draw attention to dealings with affiliated companies.
• Changes in the largest shareholder's holdings were filed on 2026-08-21 and 2026-09-18, which investors may watch for ownership signals.
• The H1 2026 report (filed 2026-08-14) and preliminary earnings (2026-08-04) set the current trailing profit baseline.
• An IR event on 2026-08-20 was filed, though the data contains no content from it.
• A 2026-10-13 headline on Kakao Pay Securities holiday dividends is the only recent news item in the data.

Risks

• The P/E of 58.1x is far above the listed peers, so valuation depends on continued profit growth.
• Free cash flow was negative at ₩121.0B over the trailing period.
• ROE of 4.6% is low relative to the valuation multiples.
• Operating profit is a recent development, with losses in each year from 2021 to 2024, so its durability is not yet established.
• The stock fell 18.3% in one month and sits near its 52-week low, and flow and short-interest data are unavailable to explain it.

Closing view

The filed numbers show a clear improvement: steady revenue growth and a shift from operating losses to a trailing 11.1% operating margin. The market price, however, has moved the other way, down 28.4% over a year, and the valuation remains far above the peers in the data on both P/E and P/B. Negative free cash flow, modest ROE and missing flow data leave open questions. This report is informational and not a recommendation.

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, 2026InitiationKakaopay: Profitability Has Turned Positive, but the Share Price Is Down 28.4% Over a Year