Home

Deck

Auros Technology · 322310 · KOSDAQ

Auros designs wafer-overlay metrology and inspection tools used in semiconductor lithography — the only domestic Korean supplier qualified alongside KLA at Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix memory fabs.

₩27,450
Price
₩253B
Market cap
₩52.1B
Revenue (FY25)
222
Employees
Listed Feb 2021 at a ₩54,600 first-day close; sank 83% to ₩9,240 by Sept 2022; rebuilt to a ₩52,000 intraday high on 6 May 2026, then nearly halved to ₩27,450 over the next nine trading sessions.
2 · The tension

Two stocks stapled together — and the market is paying for both.

  • The base business. Sole domestic Korean supplier of wafer-overlay metrology at Samsung and SK Hynix, qualified through 14 years and five OL-series generations. Mid-cycle math — roughly ₩60B revenue at 5-8% operating margin — supports a base value of about ₩100-130B.
  • The option. Four years of R&D burn on thin-film thickness metrology and HBM hybrid-bonding inspection finally produced a first contract: Samsung Nov 2025, ₩6B for two HE-900IR units, with five more reportedly under consideration at a ~₩15B cumulative value.
  • The price. Enterprise value of ~₩261B implies the market is paying ~₩130B for the option — roughly half the equity. Camtek ($496M FY25 revenue) and Onto ($1B) already commercialise the same Korean HBM-inspection TAM at multiples of Auros's entire base.
₩6B is the option showing up. ₩15B is the option valued at par. Silence through 1H FY27 would be option decay — and the option is half the stock.
3 · Money picture

Five years post-IPO, reported earnings and the bank account tell different stories.

₩1.7B
Cumulative net income FY21–FY25
−₩37.1B
Cumulative free cash flow Same five years
−₩5.3B
FY24 operating cash flow A record-revenue year
₩4.5B
Net debt FY25 From ₩32B net cash at IPO

Working capital absorbs cash on every up-cycle — receivables and inventory soaked up ₩18.5B in FY24 alone, when the company printed its all-time peak 9.9% operating margin. FY25 capex hit ₩14.7B (2.9× depreciation) and was funded by ₩10B of new short-term bank debt. The IPO cash cushion that bridged the FY22 trough is essentially spent; a second weak year would force either equity dilution or an R&D cut.

4 · The option, on the clock

Two pieces of evidence in seven months — both real, both still small.

  • Samsung HBM contract (Nov 2025). First concrete back-end packaging win — two HE-900IR units and an MT-30T for ~₩6B (~12% of FY25 revenue, ~10% of FY24 per Aju Press), with five additional units reportedly under consideration. Installation at Cheonan/Onyang began December 2025.
  • Thin-film qualification (Apr 2026). Korean trade press confirmed thin-film thickness metrology in qualification at a major Korean chipmaker — five years after pilot manufacturing began in 2021. Management frames the path at >₩100B revenue if volume lands; the TAM is roughly 2× the overlay TAM.
  • What resolves it. A Samsung HE-900IR repeat order or a first volume (양산 납품) thin-film contract at Samsung or SK Hynix inside 12-18 months would validate conversion. A cluster peer — Onto, Nova, KLA, Camtek — winning the same Korean ground in that window would confirm Auros lost it.
The bull reads November 2025 as a beachhead. The bear reads it as a token. A second order settles the debate.
5 · Bull & Bear

Watchlist — the cluster-style multiple is paying for an option that has not yet converted.

  • For. The Korean wafer-overlay duopoly is genuinely defensible. KLA has been silent on Korean-memory share gains for eight-plus quarters; service revenue mix has climbed from 8.9% (FY23) to 12.1% (FY25) on a stable installed base — the canonical signal that customers are renewing, not replacing.
  • For. R&D dollars are fixed at ~₩19B; on a ₩70-80B revenue base the R&D ratio would compress from 36.7% toward the 13-29% cluster band and operating margin would converge into the teens. Park Systems is the local existence proof — 20% operating margin at four times the revenue.
  • Against. Cumulative FY21–FY25 net income of ₩1.7B against negative ₩37.1B free cash flow is a full-cycle statement, not a working-capital quirk. The income statement has not, through one entire cycle, generated the cash to fund the R&D the multiple is paying for.
  • Against. Even the FY24 peak operating margin of 9.9% sits below the trough margins of every listed cluster peer — KLA, Onto, Nova, Camtek, Park Systems all earn 13-39% in worse years. Closing that gap requires both the cycle and the adjacency to land, and both depend on the same customers.
Watchlist flips toward Lean Long on a second HE-900IR order, an SK Hynix hybrid-bonding qualification, or a thin-film volume contract. Flips toward Avoid if 1H FY26 prints gross margin below 50% with net debt above ₩10B.

Watchlist to re-rate: (1) 1H FY26 gross margin reclaim above 52% off the FY25 48.6% trough; (2) Samsung HE-900IR 5-unit extension disclosure on DART or Korean trade press; (3) first volume thin-film order at Samsung or SK Hynix.