Naver Sets Another Record for Quarterly Sales... "AI Factory Revenue to Begin in First Half of Next Year" (Comprehensive)

Growth Centered on Advertising and Commerce Driven by AI

Operating Profit Slightly Down Due to AI Investments

AI Factory Revenue Expected in First Half of Next Year

"Global AI Demand Will Continue to Rise Over the Medium and Long Term

Naver once again set a new record for its highest-ever quarterly revenue in the second quarter of this year, driven by strong performances in key businesses such as advertising and commerce. Although operating profit fell slightly due to increased investment in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, the successful launch of the AI Tab and positive developments in the AI Factory project with Nvidia have further brightened Naver’s future growth prospects powered by AI technology.

Naver Headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Jin-Hyung Kang aymsdream@

On August 7, Naver disclosed that its consolidated revenue for the second quarter provisionally totaled 3.3888 trillion won, a 16.2% increase from the same period last year. Operating profit stood at 520.3 billion won, representing a 0.2% decrease.

The company’s revenue growth in the second quarter was driven by performance improvements in core businesses such as advertising and commerce through the incorporation of AI, along with the continued expansion of its global consumer-to-consumer (C2C) business. In detail, platform revenue rose by 12.3% to 1.9022 trillion won. Advertising revenue, in particular, saw the contribution of AI in revenue growth surpassing 60% thanks to AI-powered optimization of ad placements and advanced targeting. Notably, the AI Briefing Ads, officially launched at the end of last month, achieved a click-through rate (CTR) over 30% higher and a purchase conversion rate more than three times that of traditional search ads.

The AI Tab is also off to a smooth start. At the conference call, Naver CEO Soo-yeon Choi emphasized, “As of early August, the AI Tab reached 10 million monthly active users (MAU).” She added, “The CTR for shopping and local content also exceeded 40%, leading directly to purchases and reservations.”

Naver plans to sequentially add more agents to the AI Tab, including a real estate listings agent and a health agent. A web browser–specialized AI agent will also be introduced.

Service revenue increased by 31.3%, fueled by continued growth of the commerce ecosystem as Naver Plus Store, membership offerings, and N Delivery were strengthened. In October, Naver will launch a return center, enabling Naver Plus membership users to process product returns more quickly. Exclusive dawn delivery service for membership members will also be rolled out in earnest.

Financial platform revenue increased by 16% to 470.7 billion won, while the payment amount processed via Naver Pay rose by 21% to 25.2 trillion won. With the expansion of its offline integrated payment terminal, 'Npay Connect,' Naver has officially entered the AI platform business for merchants. By integrating online and offline data via the terminal, the company aims to enhance the competitiveness of the entire Naver ecosystem and create new monetization opportunities.

In the global domain, growth in the C2C business, led by the strong performances from Naver’s global platforms such as Wallapop, Poshmark, and Soda, resulted in revenue increasing by 24.4% year-on-year to 1.0159 trillion won. Naver also projected that revenue related to its AI Factory project with Nvidia will begin in the first half of next year. CEO Choi explained, “Starting in 2027, we expect revenue to begin with the launch of a 55 megawatt (MW) service,” adding, “We plan to increase this to 100 MW by the end of 2027, 200 MW by 2028, ultimately targeting a gigawatt (GW)-level infrastructure build-out.”

Regarding investment in the AI Factory, CEO Choi stated, “This is not a one-off, but an investment in a structurally growing market,” and predicted, “With the proliferation of generative AI, the shift to AI across entire industries, and the expansion of inference and AI agents, demand for global AI computing power will continue to grow in the mid- to long-term.”

Meanwhile, Naver announced on August 3 that it had canceled 4,901,094 treasury shares (worth approximately 1 trillion won). Naver’s Chief Financial Officer Hee-chul Kim said during the conference call, “We have canceled 4,901,094 treasury shares, representing 3.1% of the total number of issued shares, as part of our efforts to enhance shareholder value.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.