DIC, founded in 1976 and headquartered in Ulsan, is a specialist in power-transmission components whose core business is cutting the gears and shafts that transmit a car's power to its wheels; about 85% of revenue comes from automotive parts supplied to the likes of Hyundai Motor and Kia, and the rest holds a near-monopoly position in forklift transmissions and axles. It has laid down an electrification axis with EV reducers and mass production in Kentucky, USA, but 2025 net profit fell about 62% year over year owing to the base effect of a one-off corporate-tax refund in 2024, and in Q1 both revenue and profit declined together. The notable point is that when electrification-parts volume grows and quarterly profit turns to recovery, five years of rising revenue and unremarkable asset value (a P/B in the 1.4x range) revive as strengths, while a thin 2.5% operating margin combined with a debt ratio of 505% and an interest coverage ratio below 1x means the leverage burden grows if the order decline drags on.
At-a-glance assessment financial health · growth · profitability · valuation
- Debt far exceeds equity (debt ratio 505.3%).
- Assets that can be turned to cash within a year fall short of near-term liabilities (current ratio 73.9%).
- Operating profit barely covers the interest bill (interest coverage below 1x).
- The most recent full-year net result was a loss.
- Revenue rose 5.3% year over year, and the pace is quickening (3-year trend: mixed).
- Most recent quarter (Q1 2026) revenue was 14.5% lower than a year earlier.
- ROE is -7.4% (controlling-interest basis). It is below the sector average.
- Operating margin is 2.5%.
- P/E is hard to compute here, so this is read on P/B.
Ownership & governance As of 2025-12-31
Largest shareholder Kim Seong-mun 2.27% (individual)
Controlling bloc incl. related parties 37.49%
With the controlling bloc holding 37%, the ownership structure is stable.
🔎 In-depth analysis
- DIC, founded in 1976 with its headquarters and plants in Ulsan, is a specialist in power-transmission components.
- Its core business is as a 'Gear Maker' that cuts gears and shafts, the key parts that transmit a car's power to its wheels, and it produces differential cases (Diff Case), transmission assemblies for light passenger cars, 7- and 8-speed dual-clutch transmission (7DCT/8DCT) parts, and reducers for EVs.
- About 85% of revenue is automotive parts, supplied to Hyundai Motor, Kia, Hyundai Transys, and GM Korea, as well as to overseas automakers.
- The remaining roughly 10% is heavy-equipment (forklift) parts, where it assembles and supplies finished transmissions and axles to Doosan Bobcat Korea, HD Hyundai Site Solution, and Clark, holding what is effectively a near-monopoly position.
- It is shifting its center of gravity from internal-combustion parts toward electric- and hydrogen-vehicle parts (reducers, shift-by-wire SBW electronic transmissions, electronic oil pumps EOP, and e-Axle), and its Kentucky subsidiary Daeil USA has begun mass-producing EV parts.
- The latest close is ₩4,015, with a market cap of ₩156.1 billion.
- The price sits below the 20-day line (₩5,843) and below the 60-day line (₩7,415).
- Trading below both its short- and medium-term moving averages, the trend is on the soft side.
- The RSI (a supplementary gauge that scores the strength of gains versus losses over the past 14 days on a 0-100 scale) is 26.6, close to a depressed zone.
- The one-month change is -56.7%, the three-month change is -49.2%, and the price stands -72.6% from its 52-week high.
- Relative strength versus the KOSPI is 38 (on a 1-99 scale that weights recent returns against the index over the past year more heavily; higher means stronger than the market).
- That places it in roughly the top 63% of all stocks by strength.
- Over the past three months it lagged the index by 61.3%.
- Chart reading is best done alongside trading volume and disclosure dates.
- On a finalized annual basis (2025 business report, consolidated), controlling net profit is a loss, so a trailing (last year's results) P/E (how many times a year's earnings the share price is) is not computed.
- But the nature of this loss is worth examining.
- According to company disclosures, a corporate-tax reassessment claim in 2024 booked a one-off tax refund of about ₩11.0 billion, sharply lifting that year's net profit, and in 2025, with that base gone, the same effect was absent and net profit turned to a loss.
- Operations themselves remain profitable, with operating profit of ₩18.6 billion and an operating margin of 2.5%, so this should be read as a loss driven largely by the base effect of a tax item rather than a collapse of the core business.
- On the asset-value side, the P/B (how many times net asset value per share the share price is) is 1.10x and the forward P/B reflecting future equity is 1.10x, so the shares sit around asset value, neither notably cheap nor expensive.
- The P/S (how many times a year's revenue the share price is) is 0.5x, low relative to the revenue base.
- The point to note is the financial structure.
- With a debt ratio (debt versus equity) of 505%, a current ratio of 73.9%, and an interest coverage ratio of 0.9x, debt is heavy and covering interest with operating profit is tight, so the burden can grow when earnings wobble.
- Five-year revenue rose steadily from ₩590.1 billion in 2021 to ₩757.3 billion in 2025 (about 6.4% annual average, +5.3% year over year).
- The top line continues a gentle uptrend.
- Operating profit, however, fell from ₩27.3 billion in 2021 to ₩18.6 billion in 2025, a pattern of revenue rising but margins thinning.
- The most recent quarter was more pressured.
- Q1 2026 revenue of ₩165.2 billion fell -14.5% year over year, operating profit of ₩2.8 billion fell -66.0%, and net profit of about ₩1.1 billion fell -60.0%.
- On a forward (this-year basis) earnings outlook that gauges the coming year, a forward P/E at this year's expected earnings level can be computed.
- This reflects a conservative earnings assumption in which a phase like Q1, with falling automaker orders and pressured margins, continues all year.
- In other words, the top line holds up but the pace of this year's earnings recovery is the crux, and how much electrification volume such as EV reducers and Kentucky mass production actually flows through to profit is the variable that will determine whether this forward figure gets lifted.
- Recent disclosures center on three threads.
- First, the 2026-02-13 'change of 30% or more in revenue or profit structure' disclosure first revealed 2025 annual preliminary results, in which revenue rose but net profit fell about 62% year over year, with the stated reason being the base effect of a one-off corporate-tax refund (about ₩11.0 billion) in 2024.
- Second, treasury-stock moves.
- On 2025-12-08 it decided to dispose of 142,694 treasury shares (purpose: securing investment resources and enhancing financial soundness), and on 2026-03-10 a results report wrapped up the disposal of 133,265 shares (about ₩1.59 billion), leaving only 9,429 treasury shares (0.02%) afterward.
- Third, from the second half of 2025 through the first half of 2026, filings of changes in the largest shareholder's holdings and large-holding status reports occurred frequently, coinciding with a period when the share price briefly surged.
- No single sale/supply disclosure directly tied to revenue, such as a supply contract or order, was confirmed in this period, so it is appropriate to check the direction of results directly through quarterly and business reports.
- The strength is the standing of its core business.
- DIC is a specialist parts maker that has dug the single well of gears, transmissions, and reducers for 50 years, holds a near-monopoly position in forklift transmissions and axles, and has laid down an electrification axis with EV reducers and mass production in Kentucky, USA.
- The top line has risen for five straight years, operations remain profitable, and the share price relative to asset value (P/B and forward P/B in the 1.4x range) is not in a particularly expensive zone.
- The points to watch are the earnings trend and the financial structure.
- In Q1 2026 revenue and profit fell together, and with a thin 2.5% operating margin against a debt ratio of 505% and an interest coverage ratio below 1x, the leverage burden grows when earnings wobble.
- Last year's net loss also has a part masked by the tax base effect, so normal earning power is best confirmed through quarterly results.
- In short, this stock is strong 'when electrification-parts volume grows and quarterly profit turns to recovery' and weak 'when an automaker order decline drags on atop thin margins and heavy debt.' Asset value is unremarkable, so confirming the signal of an earnings recovery in the quarterly results is the point to watch.
🔎 Valuation vs peers Overvalued
Among domestic automaker suppliers that directly make power-transmission (gear, transmission, axle) parts, those with a close business mix were chosen as the peer set; Hyundai Wia and HL Mando are in the drivetrain and power-transmission group, and Hyundai Mobis is a large-cap reference.
| Peer | P/E | P/B | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hyundai Wia | 16.31x | 0.45x | 2.74% |
| HL Mando | 22.70x | 0.84x | 3.69% |
| Hyundai Mobis | 11.54x | 0.86x | 7.44% |
Against the power-transmission peer set (Hyundai Wia P/B 0.54, HL Mando 0.87, Hyundai Mobis 1.06), DIC's P/B of 2.68x is a clear premium. However, since much of the loss stems from the base effect of the 2024 one-off tax refund, it is hard to conclude 'expensive' on last year's trailing measures alone. As it is at an earnings inflection, a forward (future) basis is needed, but with no official company outlook figures, a DART seasonality-approximated operating profit (about ₩11.9 billion) was referenced only as a supplement. Taken together, on an asset-value basis it is in a zone more expensive than peers, but it is more balanced to interpret it as close to inconclusive, keeping in mind the one-off nature of the loss and the electrification transition; this page marks only its position versus peers as 'overvalued.'
Earnings outlook company-stated · verified
| Type | Period | Revenue | Operating profit | Net profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Next quarter | Q2 2026 | ₩178.8 billion | ₩3.7 billion | ₩0.4 billion |
Price history Close · MA20 · MA60
The latest close is ₩4,015 and the market capitalization is ₩156.1 billion. The price sits below its 20-day moving average (₩5,843) and below its 60-day moving average (₩7,415). 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 26.6, near oversold territory. The one-month change is -56.7%, the three-month change is -49.2%, and the position relative to the 52-week high is -72.6%. Relative strength versus the KOSPI is 38 (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 37% of all stocks. Over the past three months it lagged the index by 61.3%. 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 -61.32% / 6M -80.07% / 12M -63.34%
Key metrics vs sector median
Valuation
A net loss makes the P/E an unreliable valuation gauge. The P/B of 1.10x is above the sector median (0.56x).
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.
Profitability & financials
Return on equity (ROE) is -7.4%, below the sector average (7.0%). The operating margin is 2.5%. The debt ratio is 505.3%, so the financial structure is somewhat high.
Growth FY2025 · annual report (consolidated)
| Item | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $482.9M | $476.6M | $501.9M | +5.31% ↑ faster |
| Operating profit | $23.9M | $14.5M | $12.3M | -15.03% ↑ faster |
| Net profit | $24.3M | $9.4M | -$7.0M | -174.13% ↓ slower |
| 5-year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $391.1M | $461.2M | $482.9M | $476.6M | $501.9M |
| Operating profit | $18.1M | $20.7M | $23.9M | $14.5M | $12.3M |
| Net profit | $19.2M | $2.0M | $24.3M | $9.4M | -$7.0M |
| Revenue CAGR | 4-yr avg 6.43% | ||||
Revenue rose 5.3% year over year (2023 ₩728.7 billion → 2024 ₩719.1 billion → 2025 ₩757.3 billion), and the three-year trend is 'mixed'. The pace of growth also quickened from the prior year. Operating profit fell 15.0% year over year. That said, the decline narrowed. Over the 5 years on record, revenue compound annual growth (CAGR) is 6.4%. The two-year revenue CAGR is 1.9%. In the most recent quarter (Q1 2026), revenue was 14.5% lower than the same period a year earlier.
Latest quarterly results Q1 2026 · vs year-ago
Technical indicators
What stands out
- —
Points to watch
- Debt far exceeds equity (debt ratio 505.3%).
- Assets that can be turned to cash within a year fall short of near-term liabilities (current ratio 73.9%).
- The most recent full year was a loss, so it is worth checking whether profitability recovers.
- The price is high versus peers, so expectations already appear priced in.
Recent news & events searched · sourced
- 2026-02-13Earnings2025 annual preliminary results released: revenue ₩757.3 billion (+5.3%), net profit down about 62%. The stated reason is the base effect of a one-off corporate-tax refund (about ₩11.0 billion) in 2024.Officially confirms that the annual loss is of a tax-base-effect nature rather than operating deterioration. Judging normal earning power requires checking quarterly and business reports as well. Source
- 2026-05-14FilingQ1 2026 quarterly report: consolidated revenue ₩165.2 billion (-14.5%), operating profit ₩2.8 billion (-66.0%). Business-segment mix disclosed as automotive parts ₩149.5 billion and heavy-equipment parts ₩15.7 billion.Confirms that the latest quarter's scale and profit both bent lower. Whether the Q1 weakness persists through the year is the key short-term variable. Source
- 2026-03-10UpdateTreasury-stock disposal results report: 133,265 common shares (about ₩1.59 billion) disposed of on the market during 2025-12-09 to 2026-03-06, leaving only 9,429 treasury shares (0.02%) afterward.A small-scale disposal (0.34% of shares outstanding) for securing investment resources and financial soundness. The effect on float and financial structure is limited. Source
- 2025-12-08UpdateTreasury-stock disposal decision: 142,694 common shares (planned amount about ₩1.59 billion) to be disposed of on the market, with the purpose of securing investment resources and enhancing financial soundness.The starting point of a treasury-stock disposal for financial improvement. The disposal itself is small in scale, so it is hard to view as a governance change. Source
- 2026-03-20Filing2025 business report (consolidated): post-audit finalized results of revenue ₩757.3 billion and controlling net profit -₩10.5 billion. Auditor: Sunghyun Accounting Corporation.Presents audit-finalized figures versus the preliminary numbers. The loss size and financial ratios (debt ratio 505%) can be confirmed as finalized data. Source
Figure cross-check computed ↔ external
| Metric | Computed | External | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 consolidated revenue | ₩757.3 billion | ₩757.3 billion | Confirmed | link |
| Q1 2026 consolidated revenue | ₩165.2 billion | ₩165.2 billion | Confirmed | link |
| 2025 controlling net profit | -₩10.5 billion | net profit +₩6.3 billion | Unverified | link |
| Treasury-stock disposal result | 0.02% | 133,265 , 9,429(0.02%) | Confirmed | link |
| 2026 operating-profit seasonality approximation | approx. ₩11.9 billion | — | Unverified | link |
Recent filings
- 2026-06-01Corporate governance report
- 2026-05-28OwnershipOwnership-change filing
- 2026-05-28OwnershipLargest-shareholder ownership change report
- 2026-05-14PeriodicQuarterly report
- 2026-05-08OwnershipLargest-shareholder ownership change report
- 2026-04-06OwnershipLargest-shareholder ownership change report
- 2026-04-01Disclosure
- 2026-03-30Shareholders' meeting notice
- 2026-03-20PeriodicAnnual business report
- 2026-03-20Audit report
- 2026-03-13Disclosure
- 2026-03-13Shareholders' 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.