LG Electronics makes and sells home appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, and air conditioners, along with TVs and the automotive electronics components that go into vehicles, and it has lately been building steadier, recurring-revenue businesses — appliance subscriptions that charge a monthly fee instead of a one-time sale, and advertising on its TV operating system (webOS). In the first quarter of 2026 it posted revenue of ₩23.7272 trillion and operating profit of ₩1.6737 trillion, its highest-ever first-quarter revenue, with operating profit up 32.9% from a year earlier, led by the automotive-electronics and subscription businesses. What stands out lately is that first-half results during the appliance high season and the automotive-electronics order backlog are strongly lifting profit, while, on the other side, a slow TV-demand recovery and a seasonally weak fourth quarter make annual profit swing sharply from quarter to quarter.
At-a-glance assessment financial health · growth · profitability · valuation
- Revenue rose 1.7% year over year, and the pace is slowing (3-year trend: rising).
- Most recent quarter (Q1 2026) revenue was 4.3% higher than a year earlier.
- ROE is 4.0% (controlling-interest basis). It is below the sector average.
- Operating margin is 2.8%.
Ownership & governance As of 2025-12-31
Largest shareholder LG 35.26% (corporate)
Controlling bloc incl. related parties 35.27%
With the controlling bloc holding 35%, the ownership structure is stable.
🔎 In-depth analysis
- LG Electronics earns money along four main lines.
- The first is home appliances — refrigerators, washing machines, dryers, and vacuum cleaners (the HS division) — its largest and core business by revenue.
- The second is TVs and the advertising and content business built on the webOS operating system inside them (the MS division).
- The third is air conditioners and building HVAC (the ES division).
- The fourth is the infotainment and automotive-electronics parts business for vehicles (the VS division), which grew to around ₩11 trillion in revenue in 2025 and became a new growth pillar.
- More recently it has been growing a subscription business, in which it charges a monthly fee and provides maintenance rather than ending the relationship at the sale, and a platform business that earns money from ads shown when a TV is turned on.
- It is shifting a once-and-done sales structure toward one that brings in steady, recurring revenue.
- The latest close is ₩178,000 and the market cap is ₩29.0 trillion.
- The price sits below its 20-day line (₩206,765) and below its 60-day line (₩199,118).
- 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 39.5, a neutral reading.
- It is down 20.5% over one month and up 66.2% over three months, and it sits 54.6% below its 52-week high.
- Its relative strength versus the KOSPI is 78 (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 22% of all stocks by strength.
- Over the past three months it has led the index by 22.8%.
- Chart reading is best done alongside trading volume and the dates of disclosures.
- This stock is easy to misread if you look only at last year's numbers.
- The trailing P/E (how many years of earnings the price represents) is 30.18x, which looks high.
- But that is because 2025 net profit (₩960.6 billion) was depressed by items such as a fourth-quarter operating loss.
- ROE (how much a company earns in a year on its equity) also came in low at 4.0%, a value temporarily depressed for the same reason.
- The balance sheet, by contrast, is solid.
- Net debt is negative — that is, cash exceeds debt by about ₩7.5 trillion, a net-cash position.
- EV/EBIT (enterprise value divided by operating profit, a debt-adjusted cousin of the P/E) is 9.6x.
- Adding back depreciation, EV/EBITDA is a low 3.6x.
- Once debt and cash are taken into account, it actually looks cheap.
- The debt ratio (debt against equity) of 167% is somewhat high given the nature of manufacturing, but with a net-cash position the real burden is modest.
- The heart of the growth story is an earnings inflection.
- Revenue reached ₩89.2 trillion in 2025, having risen gradually and steadily for five straight years.
- Profit is a different matter.
- Operating profit in 2025 was ₩2.48 trillion, down 27.5% from the prior year.
- Net profit, on the other hand, recovered 161%, from ₩367.5 billion to ₩960.6 billion.
- Then the direction became clear in the first quarter of 2026.
- First-quarter operating profit of ₩1.6737 trillion, up 32.9% from a year earlier, made for a strong start alongside record first-quarter revenue.
- Automotive electronics and subscriptions are pushing this trend higher.
- Automotive-electronics revenue grew on the back of a stable order backlog.
- Subscriptions kept up double-digit growth in the domestic market.
- Reflecting the first-half high season and the automotive-electronics trajectory, this year's annual profit is in a phase of a noticeable recovery from 2025.
- So on a current-year earnings basis, the stock reads far more reasonably than the impression given by last year's P/E of 33x.
- That said, the fourth quarter is seasonally weak and the TV-demand recovery is slow, so quarterly swings are large.
- Recent disclosures center on results, funding, and governance.
- The first-quarter 2026 report (disclosed May 15) contained strong results of ₩23.7 trillion in revenue and ₩1.67 trillion in operating profit.
- In May, a securities registration statement and an issuance-results report tied to a corporate bond followed.
- This is the routine financial activity of a net-cash company raising funds at low rates for maturities and investment.
- At the end of May it disclosed a corporate governance report, renewing its transparency requirements.
- In June it made its regular disclosure on large business groups.
- Overall, rather than sudden bad news, the flow is one of improving results and normal financial and disclosure activity.
- In sum: LG Electronics is layering the growth pillars of automotive electronics, subscriptions, and platform on top of the stable core of appliances and TVs.
- When it is strong, it looks like this: when the first-half appliance high season, the digestion of the automotive-electronics order backlog, and recurring revenue such as subscriptions and webOS advertising overlap, profit steps up.
- The balance sheet is net cash, so it has staying power.
- When it is weak, it looks like this: if TV and display demand is soft or marketing competition intensifies, margins get squeezed.
- The fourth quarter in particular is seasonally weak, so the annual profit swing is large.
- It is easy to look only at last year's profit and conclude the stock is expensive, but on a current-year earnings basis it should be read differently.
- Ultimately, the pace of automotive-electronics and subscription growth and whether TV profitability recovers will decide the direction.
🔎 Valuation vs peers Fairly valued
Domestic listed companies overlapping in character — diversified appliance and electronics finished-goods makers, LG-affiliated component makers, and subscription-appliance operators — with Samsung Electronics (diversified electronics), LG Innotek (automotive electronics and components), and Coway (subscription appliances) used as the peer set.
| Peer | P/E | P/B | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Samsung Electronics | 36.72x | 3.83x | 10.43% |
| LG Innotek | 51.39x | 3.04x | 5.92% |
| Coway | 10.51x | 1.80x | 17.09% |
On last year's earnings alone, the P/E of 33x looks expensive. But that is because 2025 net profit was depressed by items such as a fourth-quarter operating loss. With this year in a profit-recovery phase, last year's P/E overstates the real valuation. On an asset basis (P/B of 1.34x) it is lower than Samsung Electronics and LG Innotek. It is at a level similar to Coway (P/B of 1.8x), the subscription-appliance comparison. Its debt- and cash-adjusted EV/EBIT of 9.6x and EV/EBITDA of 3.6x are on the low side, so accounting for debt and cash it actually looks cheap. That said, the valuation is only justified once the pace of automotive-electronics and subscription growth and a TV profitability recovery are confirmed, so the overall read is fairly valued.
Price history Close · MA20 · MA60
The latest close is ₩178,000 and the market capitalization is ₩29.0 trillion. The price sits below its 20-day moving average (₩206,765) and below its 60-day moving average (₩199,118). 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 39.5, a neutral level. The one-month change is -20.5%, the three-month change is +66.2%, and the position relative to the 52-week high is -54.6%. Relative strength versus the KOSPI is 78 (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 78% of all stocks. Over the past three months it outpaced the index by 22.8%. 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 +22.83% / 6M +17.52% / 12M -2.35%
Key metrics vs whole-market median
Valuation
The P/E of 30.18x is above the whole-market median (13.81x). The P/B of 1.21x is in line with the whole-market median (1.15x).
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 10.0%→terminal 2.0%, 10-yr forecast, free-cash-flow basis, forward earnings power normalized 2.184x. A reference range that shifts materially with assumptions.
Profitability & financials
Return on equity (ROE) is 4.0%, below the whole-market average (5.0%). The operating margin is 2.8%. The debt ratio is 167.7%, so the financial structure is moderate.
Growth FY2025 · annual report (consolidated)
| Item | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $54.5B | $58.1B | $59.1B | +1.68% ↓ slower |
| Operating profit | $2.4B | $2.3B | $1.6B | -27.53% ↓ slower |
| Net profit | $472.5M | $243.6M | $636.6M | +161.37% ↑ faster |
| 5-year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $49.0B | $55.3B | $54.5B | $58.1B | $59.1B |
| Operating profit | $2.7B | $2.4B | $2.4B | $2.3B | $1.6B |
| Net profit | $683.8M | $793.0M | $472.5M | $243.6M | $636.6M |
| Revenue CAGR | 4-yr avg 4.81% | ||||
Revenue rose 1.7% year over year (2023 ₩82.3 trillion → 2024 ₩87.7 trillion → 2025 ₩89.2 trillion), and the three-year trend is 'rising'. That said, the pace of growth slowed from the prior year. Operating profit fell 27.5% year over year. The decline widened. Over the 5 years on record, revenue compound annual growth (CAGR) is 4.8%. The two-year revenue CAGR is 4.1%. In the most recent quarter (Q1 2026), revenue was 4.3% higher than the same period a year earlier.
Latest quarterly results Q1 2026 · vs year-ago
Technical indicators
What stands out
- —
Points to watch
- Revenue rose 1.7% year over year, and the pace is slowing (3-year trend: rising).
Recent news & events searched · sourced
- 2026-05-15EarningsDisclosed its first-quarter 2026 report. Revenue of ₩23.7272 trillion and operating profit of ₩1.6737 trillion set a record for first-quarter revenue, with operating profit up 32.9% from a year earlier.Automotive-electronics and subscription growth, plus the appliance high-season effect, confirm a profit-recovery direction (medium-term positive). Source
- 2026-05-28FilingDisclosed a securities issuance-results report following a corporate bond issue. The bond issue was completed in May after a securities registration statement and prospectus.Routine financial activity of a net-cash company securing funds for investment and maturities at low cost (near-term neutral). Source
- 2026-05-29FilingDisclosed a corporate governance report. Regular update of governance matters such as the board and shareholder rights.Maintains transparency and governance requirements (a medium- to long-term stabilizing factor). Source
- 2026-06-01FilingDisclosure of large-business-group status (annual and first-quarter). Regular disclosure of group-related matters such as the status of affiliates.Regular disclosure updating information on ownership and affiliate structure (neutral). Source
Figure cross-check computed ↔ external
| Metric | Computed | External | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 2026 revenue and operating profit | revenue 23₩727.2 billion / operating profit 1₩673.7 billion | revenue 23₩727.2 billion / operating profit 1₩673.7 billion | Confirmed | link |
| 2025 full-year operating profit | 2₩478.4 billion | 2₩478.0 billion | Confirmed | link |
| Estimated full-year net profit for this year | approx. ₩2.1 trillion(self-estimate) | — | Unverified | link |
Recent filings
- 2026-06-01Large-business-group status disclosure
- 2026-05-29Corporate governance report
- 2026-05-28Earnings disclosure
- 2026-05-28Disclosure
- 2026-05-27Disclosure
- 2026-05-21Disclosure
- 2026-05-21Amended filing
- 2026-05-15Disclosure
- 2026-05-15PeriodicQuarterly report
- 2026-05-06Disclosure
- 2026-05-04Amended filing
- 2026-05-04Amended filing
📖 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.