POSCO DX handles both the IT services and the industrial automation of the POSCO group. Its largest axis is building and operating process- and power-control equipment at the Pohang and Gwangyang steel mills and EIC automation such as crane unmanning, with group-company systems integration (SI) and AI solutions plus smart-factory equipment for secondary-battery materials plants on top, so results are heavily swayed by the POSCO group's capital-expenditure cycle. An April 30, 2026 consolidated preliminary-results filing confirmed a plunge in Q1 revenue and profit, which the company attributed to revenue deferral from delayed project starts and a concentration of new-business R&D spending; a May 11 single supply-contract filing showed order activity continuing, and it kept a ₩125-per-share dividend (36% payout ratio). What stands out recently is the strength of stable internal demand — the group's smart-factory and automation work handled on a near-monopoly basis — a nearly debt-free balance sheet, and room to expand into unmanning and industrial AI/robotics, against the concern that results swing with the group's capex cycle and the multiple is high even on the reduced earnings of a down year, so any shortfall in the pace of an H2 earnings recovery would expose the valuation burden.
At-a-glance assessment financial health · growth · profitability · valuation
- Debt ratio, current ratio and interest burden all look healthy.
- Revenue fell 27.0% year over year (3-year trend: falling).
- Most recent quarter (Q1 2026) revenue was 18.6% lower than a year earlier.
- ROE is 9.1% (controlling-interest basis). It is above the sector average.
- Operating margin is 5.6%.
- The forward P/E sits above the sector median, reflecting elevated expectations.
Ownership & governance As of 2025-12-31
Largest shareholder POSCO Holdings 65.38% (corporate)
Controlling bloc incl. related parties 65.38%
With the controlling bloc holding 65%, control is very secure but the free float is thin.
🔎 In-depth analysis
- POSCO DX handles both the IT services and the industrial automation of the POSCO group.
- Its largest axis is EIC automation: building, operating, and maintaining process-control and power-control equipment at the Pohang and Gwangyang steel mills, and automating high-hazard processes such as crane unmanning.
- Its second axis is IT services, supplying group companies with systems integration (SI) and AI- and big-data-based solutions.
- Third, it delivers smart factories — automation equipment, integrated production-management systems, warehouse automation, and industrial robots — into secondary-battery materials plants.
- In short, 'group-internal volume for building and automating steel and secondary-battery plants' is the root of results, and to that extent results are heavily swayed by the POSCO group's capital-expenditure cycle.
- The latest close is ₩19,230 and the market cap is ₩2.9 trillion.
- The price sits below its 20-day line (₩23,391) and its 60-day line (₩29,761).
- Trading below both its short- and mid-term moving averages, the trend is on the soft side.
- The RSI (an auxiliary gauge that measures the strength of gains against losses over the past 14 days on a 0–100 scale) is 32.5, a neutral level.
- The price is down 25.6% over one month and down 37.4% over three months, and stands 55.1% below its 52-week high.
- Its relative strength versus KOSPI is 14 (on a 1–99 scale, converted from return relative to the index over the past year with heavier weight on recent performance; higher means stronger than the market).
- That places it in roughly the top 87% of all stocks by strength.
- Over the past three months it lagged the index by 52.4%.
- Chart reading is best done alongside trading volume and the dates when filings occur.
- The P/E ratio (how many times one year's earnings the share price represents) is 56.13x, far above the market average.
- That said, this multiple is on 2025 results in which profit fell 44%, so it should be read as 'a high multiple in a year of held-down earnings.' The P/B (how many times net assets) is 5.13x, and ROE (how much it earns in a year on capital) is 9.1%, so profitability against capital is reasonable.
- The balance sheet is solid: the debt ratio (debt against capital) is 146%, but much of that is operating liabilities such as trade payables, the current ratio of 243% leaves ample short-term liquidity, and interest coverage of 16.8x makes the interest burden light.
- In sum, financial safety is good, and the crux of the debate lies in 'when and by how much the currently reduced earnings recover.'
- Revenue slid for two straight years — ₩1,485.9 billion in 2023, ₩1,473.3 billion in 2024, ₩1,075.2 billion in 2025 — with 2025 down 27% year over year, a steeper drop.
- Net profit also fell from ₩91.9 billion in 2023 to ₩88.0 billion in 2024 to ₩52.1 billion in 2025.
- The root cause is that, as downstream industries such as steel and secondary batteries weakened, the POSCO group's capital investment was delayed and group-internal volume (related-party revenue of about ₩594.1 billion) dropped 24%.
- Q1 2026 marked the trough, with revenue of ₩241.5 billion (−18.6%), operating profit of ₩3.7 billion (−84%), and net profit of ₩4.0 billion (−81.5%); the company explained this by 'some projects' starts and revenue recognition being pushed back' and 'front-loaded R&D spending to build AI and robotics capabilities.' Because deferred engineering volume and automation orders carry over into H2, this year's profit is distinctly higher than simply quadrupling Q1 (₩4.0 billion), but given the weak downstream investment, we view it as a recovery path that struggles to fully reclaim the 2025 level (₩52.1 billion).
- The April 30, 2026 consolidated preliminary-results filing confirmed the plunge in Q1 revenue and profit, which the company attributed to revenue-recognition deferral from delayed project starts and a concentration of new-business R&D spending.
- On May 11 it filed a single supply-contract signing (amended disclosure), showing that order activity is continuing.
- Regular filings proceeded normally — an April 22 investor-relations (IR) meeting, a March 26 regular shareholder meeting, and the March business report — and a corporate-governance report was filed on May 29.
- The dividend was maintained at ₩125 per share (0.55% yield, 36% payout ratio) even amid the profit decline.
- The observation points are clear.
- The strengths are (1) stable internal demand — handling the POSCO group's smart-factory and automation work on a near-monopoly basis; (2) a solid, nearly debt-free balance sheet; and (3) room to expand into steel-process unmanning, secondary-battery automation, and industrial AI/robotics.
- The cautions are (1) that results swing heavily with the group's capex cycle, so when downstream (steel, secondary-battery) investment is weak, revenue and profit are held down together, and (2) that the current multiple is high even on the reduced earnings of a down year, so if the pace of the H2 earnings recovery falls short, the valuation burden is exposed directly.
- Ultimately it is strong when 'a recovery in group capex + the conversion of deferred projects into revenue + relief in new-business cost burdens' are confirmed together, and weak if the downstream investment delay drags on.
🔎 Valuation vs peers Overvalued
Compared against IT-services names with a similar business structure of captive-volume-based SI and industrial automation. Hyundai AutoEver (captive group SI plus smart factory and vehicle software) is closest in business character, and Samsung SDS serves as the valuation benchmark for large-scale SI.
| Peer | P/E | P/B | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hyundai AutoEver | 65.07x | 6.43x | 9.88% |
| Samsung SDS | 19.18x | 1.47x | 7.66% |
| AhnLab | 10.99x | 1.60x | 14.53% |
The current P/E of 56.13x (on 2025 results) is clearly above the market average and Samsung SDS (20x). It sits in a similarly high-multiple range to Hyundai AutoEver (79x), which is closest in business character, but the big difference is that Hyundai AutoEver's revenue is growing at double digits while POSCO DX is in a phase where revenue and profit have fallen for two straight years. As an earnings-inflection stock, the limits of the 2025 trailing P/E must be allowed for, but POSCO DX is a year in which 2026 profit is instead lower, so on this year's earnings (an internal estimate of about ₩40 billion) the multiple rises further. In other words, the current price reflects not 'held-down current earnings' but a recovery in group capex and the future growth of AI and automation new businesses pulled forward, and if that recovery is delayed, the valuation burden is exposed directly.
Price history Close · MA20 · MA60
The latest close is ₩19,230 and the market capitalization is ₩2.9 trillion. The price sits below its 20-day moving average (₩23,391) and below its 60-day moving average (₩29,761). It is under both its short- and medium-term moving averages, so the trend looks subdued. The RSI (a supplementary indicator that gauges the strength of gains versus losses over the past 14 days on a 0-100 scale) is 32.5, a neutral level. The one-month change is -25.6%, the three-month change is -37.4%, and the position relative to the 52-week high is -55.1%. Relative strength versus the KOSPI is 14 (on a 1-99 scale, converted from returns against the index over the past year with more weight on recent performance; higher means stronger than the market). It is stronger than roughly 13% of all stocks. Over the past three months it lagged the index by 52.4%. Chart interpretation is best done alongside trading volume and the dates on which disclosures occur.
Relative performance stock vs index · start = 100
Excess return vs index · 3M -52.42% / 6M -58.70% / 12M -66.39%
Key metrics vs sector median
Valuation
The P/E of 56.13x is above the sector median (32.87x). The P/B of 5.13x is above the sector median (1.99x).
Enterprise value (EV)
EV = market cap + net debt. It reflects cash and debt, so it captures the real cost of the whole business that market cap alone misses; lower multiples are cheaper relative to earnings or sales.
Intrinsic value (DCF estimate)
DCF (discounted cash flow) estimate — discount rate 9.2%, initial growth 2.0%→terminal 2.0%, 10-yr forecast, free-cash-flow basis, forward earnings power normalized 0.768x. A reference range that shifts materially with assumptions.
Profitability & financials
Return on equity (ROE) is 9.1%, above the sector average (4.0%). The operating margin is 5.6%. The debt ratio is 146.5%, so the financial structure is moderate.
Growth FY2025 · annual report (consolidated)
| Item | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $984.8M | $976.5M | $712.6M | -27.02% ↓ slower |
| Operating profit | $73.3M | $72.2M | $40.0M | -44.59% ↓ slower |
| Net profit | $60.9M | $58.3M | $34.5M | -40.84% ↓ slower |
| 5-year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $576.1M | $764.0M | $984.8M | $976.5M | $712.6M |
| Operating profit | -$12.9M | $42.9M | $73.3M | $72.2M | $40.0M |
| Net profit | -$9.4M | $30.2M | $60.9M | $58.3M | $34.5M |
| Revenue CAGR | 4-yr avg 5.46% | ||||
Revenue fell 27.0% year over year (2023 ₩1.5 trillion → 2024 ₩1.5 trillion → 2025 ₩1.1 trillion), and the three-year trend is 'falling'. The rate of decline widened from the prior year. Operating profit fell 44.6% year over year. The decline widened. Over the 5 years on record, revenue compound annual growth (CAGR) is 5.5%. The two-year revenue CAGR is -14.9%. In the most recent quarter (Q1 2026), revenue was 18.6% lower than the same period a year earlier.
Latest quarterly results Q1 2026 · vs year-ago
Technical indicators
What stands out
- The balance sheet is stable in terms of debt and liquidity.
Points to watch
- Revenue fell 27.0% year over year (3-year trend: falling).
- The price is high versus peers, so expectations already appear priced in.
Recent news & events searched · sourced
- 2026-04-30EarningsQ1 2026 consolidated preliminary-results filing — revenue ₩241.5 billion (−18.6% YoY), operating profit ₩3.7 billion (−84%), net profit ₩4.0 billion (−81.5%). Caused by revenue-recognition deferral from delayed project starts and front-loaded new-business R&D spending.Short term: the confirmed profit plunge deepens the correction. Mid term: whether the deferred revenue is recognized in H2 is the key to the recovery. Source
- 2026-05-11UpdateSingle supply-contract signing (amended disclosure) filing — disclosing that order activity in the automation and systems segments is continuing.Mid term: can contribute to an earnings rebound at the point when orders convert into revenue. Source
- 2026-04-22IRInvestor-relations (IR) meeting filing — a venue for the company to explain Q1 results and business direction.Short term: communication of the earnings backdrop and strategy. Source
- 2026-03-26DividendRegular shareholder-meeting results filing — a confirmed FY2025 dividend of ₩125 per share (36% payout ratio), with the dividend maintained amid the profit decline.Mid term: confirms a stable balance sheet and a shareholder-return stance. Source
Figure cross-check computed ↔ external
| Metric | Computed | External | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Market cap = close price × listed shares | ₩19,230 | ₩19,230 | Confirmed | link |
| Q1 2026 results (consolidated) | revenue 2,415 / 37 / 40 | revenue 2,415 / 36.58 / 40.11 | Confirmed | link |
| Confirmed FY2025 net profit | 521 | 521 | Confirmed | link |
| Estimated FY2026 net profit | approx. 400 (self-estimate) | — | Unverified | link |
Recent filings
- 2026-05-29Corporate governance report
- 2026-05-28Large-business-group status disclosure
- 2026-05-15PeriodicQuarterly report
- 2026-05-11Single supply/sales contract (amended)
- 2026-04-30EarningsFair-disclosure notice
- 2026-04-22Disclosure
- 2026-04-17PeriodicAnnual business report (amended)
- 2026-04-17Audit report (amended)
- 2026-04-17PeriodicQuarterly report (amended)
- 2026-03-26Shareholders' meeting notice
- 2026-03-13PeriodicAnnual business report
- 2026-03-11Audit report
📖 Plain-language glossary — expand if you are new to this
- P/E
- How many times a year's net profit the price is worth (lower is cheaper relative to earnings). The P/E here is on trailing (last full-year) results; for companies whose earnings swing fast (memory chips and other cyclicals/high-growth), a forward P/E on this year's expected earnings is more accurate.
- P/B
- Price relative to net assets (equity). Around 1x means it trades near book value; below 1x means below book.
- P/S
- Price relative to a year's revenue — useful for growth companies with thin earnings.
- Net debt / EV
- Net debt = interest-bearing debt − cash. Negative means more cash than debt (net cash). EV (enterprise value) = market cap + net debt, closer to what it would cost to buy the whole business.
- EV/EBIT · EV/EBITDA · EV/Sales
- Enterprise value against operating profit (EBIT), EBITDA, or revenue. Unlike P/E these reflect debt and cash; lower is cheaper relative to earnings power or sales.
- FCF / FCF yield
- Free cash flow = operating cash − capex, the cash actually left over. FCF yield = FCF ÷ market cap; higher means more cash generated per unit of market value.
- Intrinsic value (DCF)
- Future free cash flow (or, for some capex-heavy but profitable names, forecast earnings) discounted to today to estimate per-share value. Because it shifts a lot with the discount-rate and growth assumptions, it is shown as a bear/base/bull range, and the basis and assumptions are disclosed in one line beneath it.
- ROE
- How much profit the company earns in a year on its equity (%). Higher means better returns on capital.
- EPS / BPS
- Earnings per share / net assets (book value) per share.
- Operating / net margin
- Profit left from the core business / final profit after tax and interest, per unit of revenue.
- Debt ratio
- Debt relative to equity (%). Higher means more reliance on borrowing (norms vary by sector).
- Current ratio
- Assets convertible to cash within a year against debt due within a year. Above 100% leaves some short-term headroom.
- Interest coverage
- How many times operating profit covers the interest owed. Below 1x means operating profit alone struggles to cover interest.
- Dividend yield / payout ratio
- The year's dividend as a % of today's price / the share of earnings paid out as dividends.
- Revenue CAGR
- Multi-year growth expressed as a single yearly average (compound annual growth rate).
- RSI (short-term signal)
- Whether recent price action is overheated or beaten down. Above 70 is overbought, below 30 oversold.
- MA20 / MA60 (moving averages)
- The 20- and 60-day average price. Price above them signals a firmer short-term trend.
- vs 52-week high
- How far below the past year's peak the price sits now (%).
All figures are for reference only; how they read varies by sector and over time.
Sources: Korea FSC market-price API (data.go.kr), OpenDART, KRX/KIND — public data only.
Bong Stocks presents public-data-based information for reference only. It is not investment advice and contains no target prices, ratings, or buy/sell recommendations. Verify independently before making any decision.