Ask Warren

JONBUR Research · Initiation

SemiFive · 490470 · Engineering services

SemiFive: Loss-making KOSDAQ newcomer trades far below its 52-week high

Why this report

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

SemiFive, an engineering services company listed on KOSDAQ in December 2025, closed at ₩13,880 with a market cap of about ₩472.3B, down 16.6% over three months. Filed statements show revenue of ₩121.0B against an operating loss of ₩53.4B, and no model fair value is available.

Written Oct 24, 2026 · Data as of Oct 23, 2026 · 0 views

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

XfWATGr/in@

Thesis

The data shows a company with meaningful revenue but deep losses: an operating margin of -44.1% and a net margin of -46.5%. The share price is 72.9% below its 52-week high of ₩51,300 and only about 9.9% above the 52-week low of ₩12,630, which shows how sharply sentiment has changed since listing. Selling pressure is visible: foreign investors net sold about ₩7.1B and institutions about ₩20.4B over 20 days, while retail investors net bought about ₩25.6B. Foreign ownership fell from 5.5% to 4.6% over 60 days. On the other side, the balance sheet is not highly leveraged, with liabilities at 56.5% of equity. The data does not show whether losses are narrowing, because there is no prior-year comparison or guidance. The short balance is modest at 1.4%.

Business overview

SemiFive is classified in engineering services and was founded on 2019-05-30. Its CEO is 조명현 (Myung-Hyun Cho). It listed on KOSDAQ on 2025-12-29 with 34,025,440 shares. The market cap is ₩472.3B and enterprise value is ₩440.5B. Only one annual data point is available (2025), so longer-term growth history cannot be assessed. No recent news headlines are in the data.

Financial analysis

These figures come from filed financial statements. For 2025 and the trailing period shown (as of H1 2026), revenue was ₩121.0B, operating income was -₩53.4B and net income was -₩56.2B. The operating margin was -44.1% and the net margin -46.5%. Return on equity was -25.2% on a trailing basis (-25.5% for 2025). Cash was ₩31.7B and free cash flow was -₩11.0B. Liabilities to equity were 56.5%. Borrowings and revenue growth are not available in the data.

Valuation

With negative earnings, the price-to-earnings ratio and EV/EBITDA cannot be calculated. The price-to-book ratio is 2.1, down from 4.1 at the end of 2025, and the price-to-sales ratio is 3.9. The dividend yield is 0%. Among the listed comparison companies, price-to-book ranges from 0.7 (Hanyang ENG) to 9.9 (HD Hyundai Marine Solution), with Samsung E&A at 2.3. Those peers have positive price-to-earnings ratios of 7.5 to 99.5, which SemiFive cannot be compared against. The valuation model produced no fair value estimate, so there is no model estimate to compare with the ₩13,880 share price.

Catalysts

  • A batch of amended insider shareholding reports was filed on 2026-10-23, following reports on 2026-10-14, so changes in insider holdings may draw attention.
  • The next set of filed financial statements will show whether the operating loss and negative free cash flow are changing.
  • Investor flow direction, currently net selling by foreign investors and institutions, could shift the trading picture if it reverses.
  • The share price sits close to its 52-week low of ₩12,630, a level investors may watch.

Risks

  • Operating losses of ₩53.4B on ₩121.0B of revenue show the business is far from profitable on the data given.
  • Free cash flow of -₩11.0B against cash of ₩31.7B means continued cash burn could limit financial flexibility.
  • The share price has fallen 14.4% in one month and 16.6% in three months, showing high volatility.
  • Foreign ownership and institutional holdings are declining while retail buying rises, which may signal weaker large-investor demand.
  • Limited history since the December 2025 listing and no model estimate make valuation hard to anchor.

Closing view

The data presents a loss-making company with sizable revenue, a modest debt load and a share price that has fallen sharply from its post-listing high. The lower price-to-book ratio and moderate leverage are offset by large operating losses, negative free cash flow and net selling by institutions and foreign investors. With no earnings-based multiples, no model estimate, no news and only one annual data point, the evidence is incomplete, and this report makes no 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).

Filings and data used

Report history

  1. Oct 24, 2026InitiationStart of coverage (reader request)SemiFive: Loss-making KOSDAQ newcomer trades far below its 52-week 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