SK Telecom Co Ltd: 2Q26 in-line; signals further commitment to AIDC

Research evidence excerpt

M

Update

August 5, 2026 09:16 AM GMT

Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc, Seoul Branch+

SK Telecom Co Ltd | Asia Pacific

Seyon Park

Equity Analyst

2Q26 in-line; signals further

commitment to AIDC

Sohyun Park

Equity Analyst

AlphaSignals Earnings Reaction

Unchanged

In-line

Largely unchanged

Impact to our thesis

Financial results versus consensus

Direction of next 12-month

consensus EPS

Source: Company data, Morgan Stanley Research

SK Telecom Co Ltd (017670.KS, 017670 KP)

S. Korea Telecoms & Internet | S. Korea

decline in the prior quarter.

Stock Rating

Industry View

Price target

Up/downside to price target (%)

Shr price, close (Aug 5, 2026)

52-Week Range

Sh out, dil, curr (mn)

Mkt cap, curr (bn)

EV, curr (bn)

Avg daily trading value (bn)

AI data center revenue was W136bn, up 92.5% compared to the prior year.

Fiscal Year Ending

12/25 12/26e 12/27e 12/28e

EPS (W)**

Prior EPS (W)**

EPS (W)§

Revenue, net (W bn)

EBITDA (W bn)

ModelWare net inc (W

bn)

P/E

P/BV

RNOA (%)

ROE (%)

EV/EBITDA

Div yld (%)

FCF yld ratio (%)

Leverage (EOP) (%)

1,918

5,741

6,216

6,294

1,883

5,666

6,197

6,716

17,099 17,795 17,887 17,981

4,242

5,015

5,086

5,137

408

1,223

1,324

1,340

Key Takeaways

Consolidated OP of W566bn was 4% above MSe, with the beat at SKB (W133bn)

more than offsetting the slight miss at parent (W428bn).

Wireless service revenue was down 2% y/y, an improvement from the 3% y/y

SK Hyper, a dedicated entity for AIDC business, was established in July, signalling

SKT's commitment to be Korea's leading AI infrastructure company.

Management also ruled out the possibility of cutting dividends to fund

investments in AIDCs.

SKT's focus on data centers is starting to show on SKB's profit contribution:

With the existing data center portfolio, and 103MW under construction in Ulsan,

held by SK Broadband, SKT's early investment in data centers is beginning to be

reflected in SKB's growing OP contribution. Parent operations, meanwhile, have

partially recovered to the pre data-breach levels but we are not expecting

meaningful earnings growth from current levels.

SK Hyper established as a dedicated entity to drive future AIDC business: SK

27.9

0.9

4.6

3.5

4.0

3.1

14.2

57.4

Equal-weight

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