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Korean internet company operating the dominant KakaoTalk messaging app plus payments, mobility, gaming and content services.
Korean internet company operating the dominant KakaoTalk messaging app plus payments, mobility, gaming and content services.
Earns from advertising and business messaging sold to firms reaching KakaoTalk's near-universal Korean user base, plus gift-sending and shopping commissions, and from content. Fintech and ride-hailing run as separate subsidiaries, several listed, so group profit is shared with outside shareholders. It has been cutting the number of its subsidiaries.
In one line: Korea's Meta plus PayPal and Uber bundled into one messaging-centric super-app..
Moat: wide (network effects, installed base, distribution). KakaoTalk is Korea's default messaging app, giving Kakao a near-universal distribution channel for ads, payments and services.
Headquarters: Jeju, South Korea · Founded: 2010 · Employees: 3,922
Size Kakao (035720.KS) is a South Korea Communication Services company (Information Technology Services) with a market value of $10.5B, the 43rd largest of 495 South Korea companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at ₩32,300 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares fell 31.7%, against -16.8% for the median peer and -24.5% for the South Korea market (cap-weighted) — 2nd lowest of 8 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 6.1% over the last twelve months (peer median +14.7%); the operating margin is 11.3% (peer median 10.1%).
Valuation It trades at 25.6× forward earnings against a peer median of 12.3× (2nd most expensive of 8).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about -5% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +14%, so the hurdle is -19 pp: the price already allows for a slowdown.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 1.1 points above its cost of capital (6.3% WACC).
Next results Next results expected around 18 Feb 2027 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | ₩8.25T | ₩8.10T | ₩7.86T | ₩7.56T | ₩6.80T |
| Revenue growth | — | +3% | +4% | +11% | — |
| Gross profit | ₩4.37T | ₩4.26T | ₩3.96T | ₩3.82T | ₩3.58T |
| EBITDA | ₩1.73T | ₩1.55T | ₩1.31T | ₩1.19T | ₩1.14T |
| Net income | ₩411B | ₩464B | ₩55.3B | -₩1.01T | ₩1.36T |
| Free cash flow | ₩588B | ₩926B | ₩871B | ₩766B | ₩225B |
| Capital expenditure | ₩678B | ₩614B | ₩506B | ₩722B | ₩643B |
| Total debt | ₩3.12T | ₩4.03T | ₩4.34T | ₩4.49T | ₩4.16T |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kakao 035720.KS | $10.5B | -32% | +6% | 11% | 25.6× | -4.8% |
| Naver 035420.KS | $20.3B | -10% | +15% | 17% | 15.5× | -0.6% |
| Meta Platforms META | $1.56T | 0% | +28% | 33% | 19.0× | 16.6% |
| Ly Corporation 4689.T | $23.2B | +31% | +8% | 15% | 18.5× | 0.8% |
| Coupang CPNG | $29.2B | -4% | +7% | -3% | 55.9× | n/a |
Peer set: Sector in the same market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | 035720.KS | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | -2.3% | +0.6% | 4th lowest of 8 |
| 6-month return | -31.7% | -16.8% | 2nd lowest of 8 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -53.6% | -37.4% | 2nd lowest of 8 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +6.1% | +14.7% | 3rd lowest of 8 |
| Operating margin | 11.3% | 10.1% | 4th highest of 8 |
| Forward P/E | 25.6× | 12.3× | 2nd most expensive of 8 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | -4.8% | -4.8% | 4th most demanding of 8 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +14.3% | +3.4% | 4th highest of 8 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | -19.1 pp | -11.0 pp | 3rd least demanding of 8 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | +1.1 pp | +2.6 pp | 4th lowest of 8 |
| EV / EBITDA | 4.9× | 6.0× | 2nd cheapest of 5 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | -5.2× | -1.3× | least indebted of 5 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kakao 035720.KS | South Korea | $10.5B | -32% | +6% | 11% | 25.6× | -4.8% | +14.3% |
| KT 030200.KS | South Korea | $9.46B | -12% | +9% | 7% | 9.0× | -4.1% | +3.4% |
| SKTelecom 017670.KS | South Korea | $12.1B | -18% | +2% | 10% | 12.3× | -9.8% | +1.2% |
| Krafton 259960.KS | South Korea | $6.94B | -17% | +55% | 30% | 12.4× | -18.5% | +14.8% |
| Naver 035420.KS | South Korea | $20.3B | -10% | +15% | 17% | 15.5× | -0.6% | +17.8% |
| LG Uplus 032640.KS | South Korea | $5.17B | +6% | 0% | 7% | 9.8× | -17.5% | +2.9% |
| HYBE 352820.KS | South Korea | $4.65B | -44% | +65% | 4% | 53.3× | 19.5% | +27.2% |
| NC 036570.KS | South Korea | $2.98B | -23% | +35% | 14% | 9.3× | -4.8% | -9.0% |