[Post IPO] Maxst, Who Dreamed of Being the 'Metaverse Flower,' Frowns Over Poor Performance

Performance Forecasts Consistently Below Expectations Since 2021 KOSDAQ Listing
Stock Price Also at One-Sixth of Peak... Business Structure Improvement Underway

Maxst, once considered a beneficiary of the metaverse, has struggled to improve its performance since listing on the KOSDAQ. As the metaverse market has failed to grow as the company expected, Maxst's poor performance has continued.

On a standalone basis, Maxst's sales in the first half of this year amounted to 680.06 million KRW, down 64.12% compared to the same period last year. Operating losses also widened to 7.61039 billion KRW, compared to the same period last year.

Maxst was established in 2010. The company independently developed augmented reality (AR) core technology and commercialized Korea's first AR development platform, 'MAXSTAR SDK (Software Development Kit)'. Its main businesses include AR development platforms, industrial AR solutions, XR metaverse platforms, and book content platforms.

Before entering the KOSDAQ in 2021, the company attracted significant market attention during its initial public offering (IPO). In the institutional demand forecast, the offering price exceeded the expected band of 11,000 to 13,000 KRW, reaching 15,000 KRW. The subscription competition rate for general investors also reached 3,382 to 1.

The stock price soared as well. On November 17, 2021, it reached an intraday high of 48,654 KRW. Metaverse-related stocks surged as online activities increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Maxst expected growth from the opening of the metaverse market. According to the investment prospectus disclosed by the company in 2021, the AR market was projected to grow into a global market worth approximately 198.2 billion USD (about 265.9051 trillion KRW) by 2025.

However, performance improvement was slow. In its first year as a listed company in 2021, Maxst recorded sales of 2.367 billion KRW and an operating loss of 4.298 billion KRW. It failed to reach the forecasted sales of 7.7 billion KRW and operating loss of 5.7 billion KRW. Poor performance continued last year as well. Maxst had projected sales of 16.412 billion KRW and operating profit of 4.625 billion KRW, but actually recorded sales of 2.858 billion KRW and an operating loss of 10.576 billion KRW. The operating loss increased further. The company analyzed that the market did not develop as expected. For AR development platforms and AR solutions, the global launch of AR glasses was delayed, and corporate investments in AR solutions did not increase. As of the 30th, Maxst's stock price stood at only 7,920 KRW.

Maxst explains that the poor performance, including the sales decline, is due to a shift in business direction and investments. As of June 30, Maxst had a total of 156 employees, nearly double the 79 employees in 2021. The business structure also shifted from simple solution sales to platform services. A company official said, "Solution deliveries were one-off," adding, "We are changing the policy to a revenue expansion structure that enables sustainable management."

Maxst plans to officially launch the XR metaverse service integrated platform 'MAXVERSE' at the end of October. Along with this, it is preparing the metaverse platform service 'Teullona' based on MAXVERSE. A company official said, "Following the official opening of MAXVERSE, the B2C model Teullona will also enter official service in the first half of next year."

Maxst is also reorganizing Maxwork to expand business-to-business (B2B) sales. Maxwork is a non-face-to-face AR industrial solution. A company official explained, "We are reworking the solution productization and conducting sales targeting large corporations," adding, "We plan to shift from a build-to-order model to a subscription model."