Naver’s Q2 Results Beat Expectations as Bernstein Sees Promise in Asset-Light Neocloud Model
Naver reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of 3.4 trillion won, up 16.3% year over year.
Naver reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of 3.4 trillion won, up 16.3% year over year. Operating profit was 520 billion won, down 0.2%, while net profit rose 42.9% to 698.6 billion won. All three figures exceeded expectations.
The main highlight was Neocloud’s asset-light brokerage model, rather than a capital-intensive, self-built approach. For the first phase, covering 200 megawatts, Naver plans to use leased capacity. Brookfield is expected to invest up to $9 billion and hold a majority stake in the special-purpose vehicle, while Naver would hold about $1 billion in equity. NVIDIA has invested about 5%, helping secure GPU supply.
Naver’s long-term operating-margin target is above 20%. However, its operating margin was 15.4%, down 14.2 percentage points from a year earlier, mainly because of higher marketing spending in the financial business and the offline expansion of N-Connect.
The research firm’s view is that Neocloud’s asset-light brokerage model substantially reduces balance-sheet risk. Combined with NVIDIA’s investment and Brookfield’s financial backing, the model makes Naver’s cloud-computing transition look significantly more promising than the market expected.
It also sees the model as positive for South Korea’s AI infrastructure supply chain. Naver’s stock was down 13.3% year to date, suggesting that the positive information about Neocloud had not yet been fully reflected in the share price.
Potential catalysts include the announcement and details of anchor-customer contracts, expected in the fourth quarter or later; approval of the Dunamu share-exchange transaction; progress on Neocloud’s second-phase, self-built 200-megawatt capacity; and progress in joint research and development between NVIDIA and Naver.
The main highlight was Neocloud’s asset-light brokerage model, rather than a capital-intensive, self-built approach. For the first phase, covering 200 megawatts, Naver plans to use leased capacity. Brookfield is expected to invest up to $9 billion and hold a majority stake in the special-purpose vehicle, while Naver would hold about $1 billion in equity. NVIDIA has invested about 5%, helping secure GPU supply.
Naver’s long-term operating-margin target is above 20%. However, its operating margin was 15.4%, down 14.2 percentage points from a year earlier, mainly because of higher marketing spending in the financial business and the offline expansion of N-Connect.
The research firm’s view is that Neocloud’s asset-light brokerage model substantially reduces balance-sheet risk. Combined with NVIDIA’s investment and Brookfield’s financial backing, the model makes Naver’s cloud-computing transition look significantly more promising than the market expected.
It also sees the model as positive for South Korea’s AI infrastructure supply chain. Naver’s stock was down 13.3% year to date, suggesting that the positive information about Neocloud had not yet been fully reflected in the share price.
Potential catalysts include the announcement and details of anchor-customer contracts, expected in the fourth quarter or later; approval of the Dunamu share-exchange transaction; progress on Neocloud’s second-phase, self-built 200-megawatt capacity; and progress in joint research and development between NVIDIA and Naver.