Market: KOSPI (017670)
Brokerage : Yuanta Securities
Analyst : Seung-woong Lee (RA: Go-eun Kim)
Investment Rating : BUY (Maintained)
Target Price : KRW 118,000 (Maintained)
Core Momentum : With 2Q results confirming core profitability normalization and surging AI growth, SK Telecom presents deep value as the market prices only core telco assets and Anthropic equity, completely overlooking SK Hyper’s multi-gigawatt AIDC pipeline.
📊 1. [Valuation & Key Financial Metrics]
- Rating & Target Price: BUY (Maintained), Target Price KRW 118,000 (Maintained, Upside Potential 27%).
- Valuation Assessment: Current market capitalization reflects only the core telco operating value (KRW 15 Trillion) and the Anthropic equity stake (KRW 4 Trillion), presenting an undervalued entry point that assigns zero value to the high-growth AIDC pipeline.
- Valuation Multiples: 2026F P/E 13.6x, P/B 1.4x, EV/EBITDA 5.1x, ROE 11.0% / 2027F P/E 13.3x, P/B 1.4x, EV/EBITDA 4.9x, ROE 10.6%.
- Financial Estimates:
- 2024A: Revenue KRW 17.94 Trillion, Operating Profit KRW 1.82 Trillion, Controlling Net Profit KRW 1.25 Trillion, ROE 10.8%, P/E 9.2x, P/B 1.0x, EV/EBITDA 3.7x.
- 2025A: Revenue KRW 17.10 Trillion, Operating Profit KRW 1.07 Trillion, Controlling Net Profit KRW 408.0 Billion, ROE 3.3%, P/E 28.9x, P/B 0.9x, EV/EBITDA 4.5x.
- 2026F: Revenue KRW 17.72 Trillion (+3.6% YoY), Operating Profit KRW 2.02 Trillion (+88.0% YoY), Controlling Net Profit KRW 1.47 Trillion (+260.3% YoY), ROE 11.0%, P/E 13.6x, P/B 1.4x, EV/EBITDA 5.1x.
- 2027F: Revenue KRW 18.10 Trillion (+2.2% YoY), Operating Profit KRW 2.08 Trillion (+2.9% YoY), Controlling Net Profit KRW 1.51 Trillion (+2.4% YoY), ROE 10.6%, P/E 13.3x, P/B 1.4x, EV/EBITDA 4.9x.
🚀 2. [Market Opportunities & Business Outlook]
- 2Q26 Earnings Review:
- Consolidated Operating Revenue posted KRW 4.36 Trillion (+0.5% YoY) and Operating Profit recorded KRW 566.0 Billion (+67.3% YoY, OPM 13.0%), beating market consensus (KRW 546.0 Billion).
- Profit normalization was driven by low-base effects from 2Q25 USIM replacement one-offs alongside ongoing marketing expense discipline (KRW 747.7 Billion, +0.9% QoQ).
- AI DC revenue reached KRW 136.2 Billion (+92.5% YoY), fueled by higher data center utilization and revenue from the subsea cable launched in July 2025.
- AI B2B/B2C revenue rose to KRW 61.3 Billion (+24.5% YoY) on expanding enterprise cloud orders.
- SK Broadband delivered Revenue of KRW 1.2 Trillion (+3.6% YoY) and Operating Profit of KRW 132.5 Billion (+44.3% YoY), significantly boosting consolidated profit contributions.
- AIDC Roadmap & SK Hyper Strategy:
- Announced the incorporation of a 100%-owned dedicated AIDC infrastructure entity, ‘SK Hyper’, on July 23 to enhance decision-making agility and financial flexibility.
- Capital injection framework: Total planned capital commitment of KRW 420.0 Billion, with KRW 330.0 Billion injected upfront and the remaining balance to be staged through 2030 based on business milestones.
- Mandated to resolve core AIDC bottlenecks, encompassing land acquisition, power grid interconnections, substations, and transmission/distribution infrastructure.
- Scaling timeline: Phased deployment of up to 5GW starting in 2029, with a long-term roadmap targeting up to 15GW post-2035 depending on market demand.
📝 Editor’s Comment (Perspective)
The analyst views SK Telecom as an undervalued market leader whose underlying profitability has firmly normalized following prior-year security incident costs, but whose equity value captures only the legacy telecom business and its Anthropic stake while completely overlooking the emerging AIDC franchise. The core perspective emphasizes that establishing SK Hyper to secure critical power and land infrastructure—unlocking a massive 5GW pipeline by 2029 and up to 15GW by 2035—provides a transformative medium-to-long term re-rating catalyst that bridges defensive telco cash flows with structural AI infrastructure growth.
To verify whether this investment thesis unfolds as anticipated, key tracking points include the sustained double-digit revenue expansion across AI DC and enterprise cloud segments, the execution of SK Hyper’s KRW 420.0 Billion capital commitment (including the initial KRW 330.0 Billion injection and subsequent milestone installments) alongside site and substation procurement, and measurable project development milestones toward the 2029 Phase 1 5GW AIDC target. These developments can be monitored through SK Telecom’s quarterly financial disclosures, IR presentations, periodic regulatory filings, and corporate disclosures regarding SK Hyper.
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Source: This content has been structured and newly written based on officially disclosed financial facts and data from brokerage reports.
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