NAVER is an internet-platform company that, on the foundation of Korea's No. 1 search portal, runs advertising (its search platform), shopping (commerce), Naver Pay (fintech), webtoons and content, and cloud. In 2025 it posted record results with consolidated revenue of ₩12 trillion and operating profit of ₩2.2 trillion, and in the first quarter of 2026 revenue kept growing, up 16.3% from a year earlier, though net profit fell 31% as AI-infrastructure (GPU) investment raised costs. What stands out lately is that advertising, commerce, and Pay are all growing at double-digit rates so the business itself is solid, but this is a year of heavy AI investment that temporarily squeezes margins, and how quickly that investment converts into revenue is the point to watch from here.
At-a-glance assessment financial health · growth · profitability · valuation
- Revenue rose 12.1% year over year, and the pace is quickening (3-year trend: rising).
- Most recent quarter (Q1 2026) revenue was 16.3% higher than a year earlier.
- Even versus the prior quarter (Q4 2025), revenue was 1.4% higher.
- ROE is 7.1% (controlling-interest basis). It is below the sector average.
- Operating margin is 18.4%.
Ownership & governance As of 2025-12-31
Largest shareholder National Pension Service 0% (corporate)
Controlling bloc incl. related parties 9.25%
With the controlling bloc holding 9%, ownership is dispersed, leaving room for control-related or activist dynamics.
🔎 In-depth analysis
- NAVER is not a company that earns from a single thing but a platform running several businesses at once.
- Its biggest revenue source is advertising attached to search screens and services (the search platform), which comes from its position as No.
- 1 in domestic search share.
- The second is commerce, which earns from Smart Store sales fees and shopping ads and has grown the fastest recently.
- Added to this are Naver Pay (fintech), which handles payments and lending; webtoons and content watched worldwide; and cloud for businesses.
- As of the fourth quarter of 2025, revenue was spread evenly across many businesses: about ₩1.06 trillion in search advertising, about ₩1.05 trillion in commerce, about ₩453.1 billion in fintech, about ₩456.7 billion in content, and about ₩171.8 billion in cloud.
- The latest close is ₩184,400 and the market cap is ₩28.9 trillion.
- The price sits below its 20-day line (₩211,600) and below its 60-day line (₩216,365).
- Trading beneath both its short- and mid-term moving averages, the trend is on the soft side.
- The RSI (a gauge that compares upward and downward force over the past 14 days on a 0-100 scale) is 34.8, a neutral reading.
- It is down 18.8% over one month and down 5.9% over three months, and it sits 35.8% below its 52-week high.
- Its relative strength versus the KOSPI is 9 (on a 1-99 scale that weights the past year's return against the index with more emphasis on recent performance; higher means stronger than the market).
- That places it in roughly the top 92% of all stocks by strength.
- Over the past three months it has lagged the index by 26.3%.
- Chart reading is best done alongside trading volume and the dates of disclosures.
- Starting with valuation, the P/E (how many years of earnings the price represents) is 14.81x and the P/B (how many times net assets the price represents) is 1.05x, on the low side for a domestic platform company.
- Profitability is solid with an 18.4% operating margin, but ROE (how much a company earns in a year on its equity) is not high at 7.1%, because shareholders' equity is large at ₩27.6 trillion while net profit is not correspondingly large.
- The balance sheet is firm.
- Net debt is negative ₩1.8 trillion — that is, cash exceeds debt by ₩1.8 trillion, a net-cash position.
- On debt- and cash-adjusted measures, EV/EBIT (enterprise value divided by operating profit, a debt-adjusted cousin of the P/E) is 13.4x and EV/EBITDA is 10.0x, slightly below the P/E, because the large net cash makes the actual business value look depressed relative to market cap.
- The free-cash-flow yield (actual cash generated as a share of market cap) is 5.7%, showing the strength of steady cash generation from advertising and commerce.
- Revenue growth is steady.
- It has compounded at 15.3% a year over five years and rose 12.1% in 2025, actually picking up speed.
- Commerce and fintech drive this at double-digit rates.
- The profit picture is different, though.
- Operating profit rose well in 2025, up 11.6%, but net profit rose only 1.6%.
- This is largely because 2024 net profit included large one-off items, making the prior-year comparison base high.
- In the first quarter of 2026, revenue rose 16.3% and operating profit 7.2%, but net profit fell 31.3%.
- The reason is clear: infrastructure investment such as GPUs for AI competitiveness rose sharply, swelling depreciation and operating costs.
- In other words, the business did not deteriorate; this is simply a year of heavy investment for the future that temporarily squeezes profit.
- Going forward, how quickly this investment converts into revenue is the key to a profit recovery.
- On June 8, 2026, the company disclosed its future business and management plan, laying out a medium- to long-term direction.
- It is presenting AI infrastructure (an "AI factory") as a growth pillar.
- On June 1, it announced an IR event to explain results and strategy.
- Earlier, in May, it filed its first-quarter report, confirming revenue of ₩3.24 trillion and operating profit of ₩541.8 billion.
- Results continued the record-revenue trend, but the decline in net profit alongside them is the defining feature of the quarter.
- The dividend is ₩2,630 per share, a yield of about 1.4%, and shareholder-return activity such as treasury-stock disclosures is continuing.
- In sum, NAVER is in a phase of solid growth pitted against investment burden.
- On the strong side, advertising, commerce, and Pay are all growing at double-digit rates and revenue is at a record.
- With ₩1.8 trillion of net cash and a 5.7% free-cash-flow yield, cash generation is firm too.
- The share price has in fact fallen more than 20% over the past year, and a P/E of 15.5x is lower than domestic platform rivals.
- On the side to watch is profit.
- This year net profit is being squeezed by AI-infrastructure investment, so a valuation computed only on last year's earnings can look cheaper than it really is.
- In sum, NAVER is strong when revenue and cash flow keep growing and AI investment converts into revenue on schedule, and its profit recovery can be delayed if that investment payoff is slow or if advertising and commerce growth slows.
🔎 Valuation vs peers Fairly valued
Leading domestic internet and platform companies and related firms.
| Peer | P/E | P/B | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kakao | 30.24x | 1.32x | 4.36% |
| DearU | 27.65x | 2.45x | 8.88% |
NAVER's P/E of 15.5x and P/B of 1.1x are clearly below its domestic platform rival Kakao (P/E of 31x, ROE of 4.4%). Given the revenue growth rate (up 12.1% in 2025) and the operating margin (18.4%), the valuation burden relative to growth is not large. One point must be considered alongside this, however. 2026 is a year in which net profit falls from the prior year due to AI-infrastructure investment, so the P/E of 15.5x computed on last year's earnings works out higher (around 20x) on a current-year earnings basis. In other words, a P/E that looks low on the metrics should be read with the fact that this year's profit is depressed, rather than concluded outright as "cheap." Conversely, if this investment converts into revenue on schedule, profit has room to recover, so this is a fairly valued zone that weighs growth against investment burden together.
Price history Close · MA20 · MA60
The latest close is ₩184,400 and the market capitalization is ₩28.9 trillion. The price sits below its 20-day moving average (₩211,600) and below its 60-day moving average (₩216,365). 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 34.8, a neutral level. The one-month change is -18.8%, the three-month change is -5.9%, and the position relative to the 52-week high is -35.8%. Relative strength versus the KOSPI is 9 (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 8% of all stocks. Over the past three months it lagged the index by 26.3%. 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 -26.30% / 6M -55.98% / 12M -68.85%
Key metrics vs sector median
Valuation
The P/E is 14.81x. The P/B of 1.05x is in line with the sector median (1.11x).
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 10.7%, initial growth 2.0%→terminal 2.0%, 10-yr forecast, free-cash-flow basis, forward earnings power normalized 0.744x. A reference range that shifts materially with assumptions.
Profitability & financials
Return on equity (ROE) is 7.1%, below the sector average (12.0%). The operating margin is 18.4%. The debt ratio is 149.0%, so the financial structure is moderate.
Growth FY2025 · annual report (consolidated)
| Item | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $6.4B | $7.1B | $8.0B | +12.08% ↑ faster |
| Operating profit | $986.8M | $1.3B | $1.5B | +11.56% ↓ slower |
| Net profit | $670.9M | $1.3B | $1.3B | +1.56% ↓ slower |
| 5-year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $4.5B | $5.4B | $6.4B | $7.1B | $8.0B |
| Operating profit | $878.5M | $864.7M | $986.8M | $1.3B | $1.5B |
| Net profit | $10.9B | $503.9M | $670.9M | $1.3B | $1.3B |
| Revenue CAGR | 4-yr avg 15.27% | ||||
Revenue rose 12.1% year over year (2023 ₩9.7 trillion → 2024 ₩10.7 trillion → 2025 ₩12.0 trillion), and the three-year trend is 'rising'. The pace of growth also quickened from the prior year. Operating profit rose 11.6% year over year. The pace of that profit growth is gradually easing. Over the 5 years on record, revenue compound annual growth (CAGR) is 15.3%. The two-year revenue CAGR is 11.6%. In the most recent quarter (Q1 2026), revenue was 16.3% higher than the same period a year earlier. Because quarterly results are relatively even in this industry, revenue also came in 1.4% higher than the prior quarter (Q4 2025), so the recent trend looks solid.
Latest quarterly results Q1 2026 · vs year-ago + prior quarter
Technical indicators
What stands out
- Revenue grew 12.1% year over year, a sign of growth.
Points to watch
- The figures shown are based on the last annual report as of the writing date, so it is best to review the latest quarterly results and filings alongside them.
Recent news & events searched · sourced
- 2026-06-08FilingThrough a future business and management plan (fair disclosure), presented a medium- to long-term growth direction centered on AI infrastructure (an "AI factory")If the AI business leads to revenue over the medium term, it becomes a growth driver, but in the near term the related investment costs weigh on margins. Source
- 2026-06-01IRDisclosed notice of an investor-relations (IR) event to explain results and business conditionsStrengthens near-term communication with the market and improves understanding of business strategy and investment plans. Source
- 2026-05-15EarningsFiled its first-quarter 2026 report — confirmed consolidated revenue of ₩3.24 trillion (up 16.3% from a year earlier), operating profit of ₩541.8 billion (up 7.2%), and net profit of ₩291.0 billion (down 31.3%)In the near term revenue growth continued, but net profit fell on higher costs from AI-infrastructure investment; the timing of a profit recovery is the key question. Source
Figure cross-check computed ↔ external
| Metric | Computed | External | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 full-year revenue | ₩12.04 trillion | 12 ₩35.0 billion | Confirmed | link |
| 2025 full-year operating profit | ₩2.21 trillion | 2₩208.1 billion | Confirmed | link |
| Q1 2026 operating profit | ₩541.8 billion | ₩541.8 billion | Confirmed | link |
| Estimated 2026 net profit | approx. ₩1.45 trillion(self-estimate) | — | Unverified | — |
Recent filings
- 2026-06-08Fair-disclosure notice
- 2026-06-01Disclosure
- 2026-06-01Large-business-group status disclosure (amended)
- 2026-05-29Corporate governance report
- 2026-05-28Large-business-group status disclosure
- 2026-05-28Large-business-group status disclosure
- 2026-05-21OwnershipOfficers'/major-shareholders' holdings report
- 2026-05-21OwnershipOfficers'/major-shareholders' holdings report
- 2026-05-21OwnershipOfficers'/major-shareholders' holdings report
- 2026-05-19Disclosure
- 2026-05-15PeriodicQuarterly report
- 2026-05-14OwnershipOfficers'/major-shareholders' holdings 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.