DNF (092070) 🔎 In-depth
KOSDAQ · Price as of 2026-08-06 · Updated 2026-08-09
DNF makes precursor materials used in the deposition steps of semiconductor manufacturing (CVD and ALD), where thin films are laid down on the wafer. Its main products are DPT material for drawing circuit patterns, HCDS for low-temperature insulating films, and High-K dielectric material that is central to shrinking DRAM geometries. Its customers are large domestic memory makers, so its results are tied to DRAM and NAND capacity additions and utilization. In March 2026 the company filed a voluntary corporate value-up disclosure and changed its CEO, and its May Q1 report showed, in the numbers, that it had passed the bottom of the memory downcycle, swinging to an operating profit as revenue recovered. What stands out most recently is that when memory capacity and utilization are rising, the entry barriers around its High-K materials work in its favor and the forward P/E on recovering earnings falls to less than half of last year's P/E, reviving the valuation appeal; but the full-year earnings base is still thin, and with revenue concentrated in a handful of large customers, results swing considerably with the timing of customer investment.
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30-second brief
Pulled directly from the computed values below — not a separately written opinion.
What do the SourceComputedEstimateReading tags mean?
Source filings and exchange data · Computed calculated from public data · Estimate our own unverified projection · Reading drafted automatically, then rule-checked. See AI & Automation.
Core valuation metric
This stock's effective sub-sector is “Chemicals” (Chemicals, Refining, Steel & Materials), a type typically read first through P/B.
Chemicals is a cyclical business where profits swing with feedstock prices and product spreads, ballooning in upturns and often slipping into losses in downturns. That makes earnings-based multiples unreliable, so price-to-book (P/B) — the share price against the value of the company's heavy asset base — is the first lens.
Price against assets alone says little about where the cycle stands. Reading it together with price against this year's expected earnings shows how far profits have recovered.
That said, earnings are swinging with the industry cycle right now, so this metric is best viewed alongside asset value and the demand backdrop.
This note explains how each sector is typically valued and is educational context only, not investment advice.
At-a-glance assessment financial health · growth · profitability · valuation
- Debt ratio, current ratio and interest burden all look healthy.
- Revenue rose 7.0% year over year, and the pace is quickening (3-year trend: mixed).
- Most recent quarter (Q1 2026) revenue was 20.8% higher than a year earlier.
- ROE is 0.8% (total-net basis). It is below the sector average.
- Operating margin is -0.9%.
- A sector-metric and in-depth research verdict — see “Valuation vs peers” below for the basis.
Ownership & governance As of 2025-12-31
Largest shareholder Soulbrain 30.1% (corporate)
Controlling bloc incl. related parties 30.13%
With the controlling bloc holding 30%, the ownership structure is stable.
🔎 In-depth analysis Reading
DNF makes precursor materials used in the deposition steps (CVD and ALD) that lay thin films onto the wafer during semiconductor manufacturing. Although the company is classified under 'chemicals,' its actual earnings come from materials for memory chips. Its three main products are DPT material used to draw fine circuit patterns, HCDS material for low-temperature insulating films, and High-K dielectric material that is central to making DRAM even finer; precursors account for the bulk of revenue. Its customers are large domestic memory makers, so the company's results move directly with DRAM and NAND capacity additions and utilization. Because finer geometries require ever more sophisticated precursors, the range of uses for the company's materials widens as process difficulty rises.
The latest close is ₩12,980 and the market capitalization is ₩150.2 billion. The price sits above its 20-day moving average (₩12,334) and below its 60-day moving average (₩15,971). Short-term and medium-term trends are diverging, so the direction is best read separately. The RSI (a supplementary indicator that gauges the strength of gains versus losses over the past 14 days on a 0-100 scale) is 49.0, a neutral level. The one-month change is -1.7%, the three-month change is -46.5%, and the position relative to the 52-week high is -48.9%. Relative strength versus the KOSDAQ is 54 (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 54% of all stocks. Over the past three months it lagged the index by 22.8%. Chart interpretation is best done alongside trading volume and the dates on which disclosures occur.
The P/E ratio (how many times a year's earnings the share price represents) reads a very high 114.29x. That figure, however, is not because the company is expensive but because last year's net profit temporarily shrank to a trough of ₩1.24 billion. When earnings sit at such an inflection point (near breakeven), the trailing P/E greatly overstates how expensive the stock really is, so this name should be viewed on this year's recovering earnings rather than last year's numbers. On this year's expected earnings, the forward P/E falls to less than half the trailing figure. P/B (how many times book net assets the share price is) is 1.01x, actually lower than the peer set (2.7-3.2x), placing it on the discount side relative to assets. The balance sheet is not heavily burdened, with a debt ratio (borrowings versus equity) of 107%, and short-term solvency is ample with a current ratio of 565%. Profitability is still early in its recovery, with ROE (how much is earned on equity in a year) at 0.8% and a full-year operating loss last year as a limitation; how firmly this turns to profit this year is the point to watch.
Over five years, revenue fell from ₩135.1 billion in 2022 to ₩79.1 billion in 2025 and operating profit turned from a profit to a loss - a textbook memory-downcycle retreat. Then 2025 revenue turned back up +7.0% year on year, and Q1 2026 revenue rose +20.8% year on year, making the recovery clearer. Above all, Q1 operating profit swung to a positive ₩710 million, in sharp contrast to the full-year operating loss last year. The basis for this year's expected earnings rising well above last year's trough is clear: as downstream DRAM and HBM conditions revive and customers add capacity and lift utilization, demand for precursors used at each process step rises alongside, and as geometries shrink, the share of high-difficulty materials such as High-K grows. The fact that both revenue and profit turned toward recovery in Q1 supports this trajectory. In other words, this year's earnings represent a return from the downcycle trough to normal operation, not a figure simply extrapolated from a single quarter.
Viewed through official disclosures, the most weighty item is the 'corporate value-up plan (voluntary disclosure)' the company filed on March 26, 2026, a company-level signal of its direction on shareholder returns and capital efficiency. On the same day, a CEO change and the results of the annual general meeting were disclosed, indicating changes in management and governance. On May 15 the Q1 2026 report confirmed the swing to profit and the revenue recovery in the numbers, and in April there were several filings on shareholding changes by executives and major shareholders and large-holding reports. It is these disclosures and reports, rather than general press, that most accurately reflect the company's condition as primary source material.
Splitting the strengths from the cautions makes the picture clear. On the strength side, the company has passed the bottom of the memory downcycle and swung to an operating profit in Q1 2026, and with downstream DRAM and HBM conditions reviving it sits in an environment favorable to rising precursor demand. Holding High-K material, central to finer geometries, also acts as an entry barrier. On valuation too, last year's trailing P/E looks high only because earnings were at a trough; the forward P/E on this year's recovering earnings falls to less than half of that, and the price versus net assets (P/B 1.08x) is lower than peers, so this is not a place where you are buying expensively. On the caution side, the full-year earnings base is still thin, so results swing even with small changes in utilization, and with revenue tied to a few large customers, volatility is high depending on when those customers invest. In short, it is a cyclical materials stock that is strong when memory capacity and utilization are rising, as earnings recover quickly, and weak when customer investment is deferred and the recovery slows - appropriately watched while confirming that the recovery is durable.
🔎 Valuation vs peers Inconclusive
The peer set is companies in semiconductor materials (deposition, precursors, photoresist); Dongjin Semichem is a comprehensive semiconductor and display materials maker, and DB HiTek is included as a reference for downstream demand (foundry utilization).
| Peer | P/E | P/B | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dongjin Semichem | 20.40x | 1.79x | 11.51% |
| DB HiTek | 15.05x | 1.69x | 13.04% |
(a) Against the peer Dongjin Semichem (P/E 32), DNF's trailing P/E of 160 looks far higher, but that is because last year's net profit was at a trough of ₩1.24 billion, not because the business is that expensive. (b) P/B of 1.33x is actually lower than peers, placing it on the discount side relative to assets. (c) The trailing P/E is calculated at an earnings inflection point (near a loss) and is therefore low in reliability; on a forward basis this year, as the recovery proceeds, the multiple falls sharply. That said, the durability of the recovery and the timing of customer investment are not yet settled, so rather than declaring the stock cheap or expensive at this point, we view it as a phase in which the strength of the recovery needs further confirmation.
Price history Close · MA20 · MA60
The latest close is ₩12,980 and the market capitalization is ₩150.2 billion. The price sits above its 20-day moving average (₩12,334) and below its 60-day moving average (₩15,971). Short-term and medium-term trends are diverging, so the direction is best read separately. The RSI (a supplementary indicator that gauges the strength of gains versus losses over the past 14 days on a 0-100 scale) is 49.0, a neutral level. The one-month change is -1.7%, the three-month change is -46.5%, and the position relative to the 52-week high is -48.9%. Relative strength versus the KOSDAQ is 54 (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 54% of all stocks. Over the past three months it lagged 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 -22.80% / 6M -0.09% / 12M -5.71%
Key metrics Computed vs sector median
Valuation
The P/E of 121.20x is above the sector median (14.15x). The P/B of 1.01x is in line with the sector median (0.90x).
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) Estimate
Model output — not a price target. This is what the formula returns under the assumptions below, not a view on where the share price should go.
DCF (discounted cash flow) estimate — discount rate 9.8%, initial growth 4.0%→terminal 2.0%, 10-yr forecast, free-cash-flow basis. A reference range that shifts materially with assumptions.
Profitability & financials
Return on equity (ROE) is 0.8%, below the sector average (4.0%). The operating margin is -0.9%. The debt ratio is 7.8%, so the financial structure is stable.
Growth FY2025 · annual report (separate)
| Item | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $59.2M | $51.9M | $55.6M | +7.01% ↑ faster |
| Operating profit | -$2.0M | -$715,797 | -$473,275 | — |
| Net profit | $3.6M | $443,187 | $870,645 | +96.45% ↑ faster |
| 5-year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $89.3M | $95.0M | $59.2M | $51.9M | $55.6M |
| Operating profit | $7.8M | $11.5M | -$2.0M | -$715,797 | -$473,275 |
| Net profit | $8.4M | $4.1M | $3.6M | $443,187 | $870,645 |
| Revenue CAGR | 4-yr avg -11.16% | ||||
Revenue rose 7.0% year over year (2023 ₩84.2 billion → 2024 ₩73.9 billion → 2025 ₩79.1 billion), and the three-year trend is 'mixed'. The pace of growth also quickened from the prior year. Operating results are in the red, so a swing back to profit matters more than the growth rate here. Over the 5 years on record, revenue compound annual growth (CAGR) is -11.2%. The two-year revenue CAGR is -3.1%. In the most recent quarter (Q1 2026), revenue was 20.8% higher than the same period a year earlier.
Latest quarterly results Source Q1 2026 · vs year-ago
Technical indicators Computed
What stands out
- The balance sheet is stable in terms of debt and liquidity.
Points to watch
- The price is high versus peers, so expectations already appear priced in.
Recent news & events searched · sourced
- 2026-03-26FilingFiled a corporate value-up plan (voluntary disclosure) - the company itself set out its direction on capital efficiency and shareholder returnsA signal of intent, over the medium term, to improve shareholder returns and capital efficiency. Whether the specific figures are actually carried out still needs to be confirmed by subsequent results. Source
- 2026-03-26FilingDisclosure of a CEO change and annual general meeting results - management changeIn the short term, whether management direction continues or changes is the point to watch. Source
- 2026-05-15EarningsQ1 2026 quarterly report - revenue ₩20.88 billion (+20.8% YoY), operating profit of +₩710 million, a swing to profitIn the short term, it confirms in the numbers the passing of the downcycle bottom and a recovery in profitability. Whether the recovery is sustained is key. Source
- 2026-04-21FilingLarge-holding report and other filings on shareholding changes - changes in holdings by major shareholders and executivesIn the short term, material for checking changes in supply-demand and governance. It is not in itself a change in results. Source
Figure cross-check computed ↔ external
Recent filings Source
- 2026-05-15PeriodicQuarterly report
- 2026-04-30Disclosure
- 2026-04-21OwnershipOfficers'/major-shareholders' holdings report
- 2026-04-21OwnershipOwnership-change filing
- 2026-04-14OwnershipOfficers'/major-shareholders' holdings report
- 2026-04-14OwnershipOwnership-change filing
- 2026-04-02OwnershipOfficers'/major-shareholders' holdings report
- 2026-04-02OwnershipOwnership-change filing
- 2026-03-26Disclosure
- 2026-03-26Disclosure
- 2026-03-26Disclosure
- 2026-03-26Shareholders' meeting notice
📖 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.