One-glance verdict
Undervalued
$68.04 our estimate vs market $36.30
Wall Street consensus: $35.00 (-48.6% lower than our fair-value estimate)
47% below our estimate, below the bear case
Fundamentals snapshot
SK Telecom Co., Ltd.
SKM · NYQ · Communication Services · Telecom Services
Current price
$36.30
52-week range
$19.66 - $47.18
Market cap
$13.94B
Balance sheet
Stretched
2.65x Stretched
Net debt $6.06B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
2 Rewards
2 Risks
2 rewards · 2 risks
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 4/10 years.
- Reward Dividend yield is 2.7% with 30-year payout history.
- Risk Stock trades 240959.4% above its 5-year average P/E.
- Risk Insider ownership is only 0.0% (peer median: 0.1%).
What this company does
SK Telecom Co., Ltd.
SK Telecom is a major South Korean company that makes its money selling mobile phone plans, internet service, and cable TV to people and businesses. Because most of its customers pay for these essential services every month, the company has a relatively stable and predictable stream of income. Beyond these core services, it also sells phones and is expanding into newer technology areas like cloud computing.
How the company got here
SK Telecom started in 1984 as a government-owned company called Korea Mobile Telecommunications Services Corp., first introducing car phones and pagers to South Korea. In 1994, the SK Group, a large South Korean conglomerate, became its biggest shareholder, and the company was renamed SK Telecom in 1997. A major turning point was in 1996 when it launched the world's first commercial CDMA digital mobile phone service, a key technology that helped establish South Korea as a leader in mobile communications. Over the years, it has continued to be a technology leader, launching the world's first 3G, 4G LTE-Advanced, and 5G roaming services.
What it actually does
SK Telecom is a major South Korean telecommunications company that provides the essential services that keep people connected. For everyday consumers, this means mobile phone plans for voice and data, as well as home internet and TV services. Think of them as the Korean equivalent of a company like Verizon or AT&T in the United States. Beyond these core services, they also sell smartphones and are involved in newer technologies like cloud services (providing online data storage and computing power for businesses) and Internet of Things (connecting everyday devices to the internet).
Cellular Services
This is the company's largest and most well-known business, providing mobile phone service to millions of subscribers in South Korea. Customers pay a monthly fee for plans that include calling, texting, and mobile data for their smartphones. This segment also includes the sale of new wireless devices like iPhones and Samsung Galaxy phones. Additionally, it offers services for businesses, such as cloud computing and solutions for the 'Internet of Things' (IoT), which helps connect devices like factory sensors or smart home appliances to the internet.
Fixed-Line Telecommunications Services
This part of the business, which operates largely through its subsidiary SK Broadband, focuses on services for homes and offices. This includes providing broadband internet access, traditional landline telephone services, and television services, such as IPTV (TV delivered over the internet) and cable TV. Businesses also pay this segment for dedicated communication lines and the underlying infrastructure needed to run their operations. While not as large as the mobile business, it's a significant and steady source of revenue.
Other Businesses
This is a smaller collection of various other ventures the company is involved in. A key part of this segment is T-commerce, which is like a home shopping network where people can buy products featured on their TVs. This segment also includes a variety of other activities such as call center management, software development, and consulting services. It represents a small slice of the company's overall business but allows them to explore new opportunities.
What management is betting on now
SK Telecom's leadership is heavily focused on transforming the company into a global artificial intelligence (AI) leader. They are pursuing an 'AI Native' strategy, which means rebuilding their core telecommunication systems to be centered around AI to provide more personalized services to customers. The company is making significant investments in AI data centers, which are specialized facilities that provide the massive computing power needed for AI applications, and plans to offer these services to other businesses. This strategy includes forming global partnerships and investing in promising AI companies to build a complete AI ecosystem, from chips and infrastructure to services.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $68.04 vs current price $36.30
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $35.00 (-48.6% lower than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $68.04 a share — about 87.4% above today's price of $36.30, so the stock currently looks cheap (undervalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Stretched
Net debt $6.1B. Interest coverage 2.6x.
Net debt
$6.06B
Interest coverage
2.65x
SK Telecom Co., Ltd.'s profit covers its interest bill about 2.6 times over.
Stretched
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
SKM
BASELINE
SK Telecom Co., Ltd.
Total debt $7.56B Interest coverage 2.65x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $96.71B Interest coverage 2.64x -0% vs SKM Has roughly the same debt cushion as SKM.
Total debt $165.76B Interest coverage 3.67x +39% vs SKM Carries about 1.4x more debt cushion than SKM.
Total debt $120.43B Interest coverage 4.92x +86% vs SKM Carries about 1.9x more debt cushion than SKM.
Total debt $193.65B Interest coverage 4.37x +65% vs SKM Carries about 1.7x more debt cushion than SKM.
Total debt $9.31B Interest coverage 7.08x +167% vs SKM Carries about 2.7x more debt cushion than SKM.
What you should know
The case for and against SKM
2 Rewards
2 Risks
Rewards
-
Free cash flow was positive in 4/10 years.
-
Dividend yield is 2.7% with 30-year payout history.
Risks
-
Stock trades 240959.4% above its 5-year average P/E.
-
Insider ownership is only 0.0% (peer median: 0.1%).
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
26.30x
Forward P/E
13.49x
P/B
1.22x
P/S
0.00x
EV/EBITDA
1.88x
PEG ratio
0.45x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
70.4%
Operating margin
13.0%
Net margin
4.4%
ROE
5.2%
ROA
2.6%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.66x
Current ratio
1.23x
Quick ratio
0.75x
Total debt
$7.56B
Total cash
$1.50B
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$12.59B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
-0.4%
EPS TTM
1.38
EPS 5Y CAGR
-23.7%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$2.90B
Free CF TTM
$1.18B
FCF margin
9.4%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
2.7%
Payout ratio
48.5%
Last ex-div date
2026-08-31