SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.10 EPS

SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.10, Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.98 billion. SK Telecom had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 2.84%.

Here are the key takeaways from SK Telecom’s conference call:

• SK Telecom reported Q1 consolidated revenue of KRW 4.3923 trillion (up 1.5% Q/Q) and operating income of KRW 537.6 billion, stating results have recovered to pre-cybersecurity-incident levels.
• The company resumed quarterly dividends with Q1 DPS of KRW 830, plans to pursue stable dividend payments for 2026 and transferred KRW 1.7 trillion to retained earnings to enable tax-exempt year-end dividends.
• MNO saw roughly 210,000 handset net adds in Q1 and intends to grow subscribers by targeting high‑LTV segments while avoiding excessive spend, prioritizing profitability.
• AI/data‑center revenue grew ~89% YoY; SKT is expanding capacity (Gasan, Pangyo, Ulsan, planned Seoul sites) and pursuing global partners, but it has not disclosed detailed AIDC profitability metrics beyond saying they are comparable to telecom.

SK Telecom Price Performance

Shares of SKM traded up $1.51 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $37.81. 2,546,749 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,006,170. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $32.63 and a 200-day moving average of $26.22. SK Telecom has a 52 week low of $19.66 and a 52 week high of $40.49. The stock has a market cap of $14.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.01, a PEG ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Institutional Trading of SK Telecom

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Captrust Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of SK Telecom during the 4th quarter valued at about $334,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of SK Telecom during the 4th quarter valued at about $293,000. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of SK Telecom by 27.5% during the 3rd quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,150 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $349,000 after buying an additional 3,483 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group purchased a new stake in shares of SK Telecom during the 3rd quarter valued at about $314,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of SK Telecom by 34.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 16,832 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $364,000 after buying an additional 4,351 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SKM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. HSBC raised shares of SK Telecom from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of SK Telecom from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Daiwa Securities Group downgraded shares of SK Telecom to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Bank of America downgraded shares of SK Telecom from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of SK Telecom from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

About SK Telecom

SK Telecom Co, Ltd. (NYSE:SKM) is South Korea’s largest wireless carrier, offering a comprehensive range of mobile telecommunications services. The company operates 5G, 4G LTE and IoT networks, providing voice, data and messaging solutions to consumers and businesses. Beyond traditional wireless services, SK Telecom delivers fixed-line broadband, digital content platforms, cloud computing and cybersecurity offerings designed to support enterprise digital transformation and the growing demand for high-speed connectivity.

Established in 1984 as Korea Mobile Telecommunications Services, SK Telecom pioneered cellular service commercialization in South Korea and has continually expanded into new technology areas.