[Market Focus] Wonik Holdings Turns Profitable in Q1...Robotics Unit Expands Globally Through Collaboration with Meta

Wonik Holdings is showing strong performance. This is interpreted as a result of the company’s large-scale turnaround to profit in the first quarter of this year, combined with heightened expectations for the growth of its subsidiaries.

As of 9:44 a.m. on May 20, Wonik Holdings was trading at 5,640 won, up 330 won (6.21%) from the previous trading day.

On a consolidated basis in the first quarter of this year, Wonik Holdings recorded sales of 171 billion won and operating profit of 10.2 billion won. Sales increased by 46.4% compared to the same period last year, and operating profit turned to a surplus. On a separate basis, the company posted sales of 73.1 billion won and operating profit of 4 billion won. Sales rose by 113.6% year-on-year, and operating profit also shifted to a surplus.

Tangible results are also emerging in the robotics sector, which the company is pursuing as a new business. The previous day, the company announced that its fifth-generation robotic hand, "Allegro Hand V5," had obtained CE certification, the integrated standard mark of the European Union (EU).

A Wonik Robotics official stated, "Allegro Hand is being widely applied in both industrial and research robotics fields, thanks to its precise control performance and flexibility to grasp objects of various shapes." The official added, "The potential for expansion into commercial applications is also increasing." He further emphasized, "With this certification, we plan to respond more proactively to the technological demands of global customers."

The robotic hand is one of the most important components in developing humanoid robots. For humanoid robots to skillfully handle various objects like humans, the hand is crucial.

At the "Current Status and Future of K-Humanoid Robots" conference held at the Korea Science and Technology Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on February 28, Wonik Robotics presented its various robotic hand development processes under the title "Development and Substantial Applications of Robotic Hands." Park Yeonmook, Executive Director (Head of Future Technology Division) at Wonik Robotics, introduced, "Currently, Wonik Robotics’ products are being purchased for research purposes by major U.S. tech company Nvidia." He added, "Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang also commented that it was 'Super Cool.'"

Wonik Robotics is collaborating with Meta, the parent company of Facebook. Meta is building world models (LWM) such as "JEPA," which aims to understand the physical world, where data collection is the most critical factor. Tactile data is particularly challenging and scarce. Meta has partnered with two global leaders in this field: one is Wonik Robotics, and the other is GelSight, which utilizes technology invented at MIT. Wonik Robotics’ products are also used by leading robotics research institutes around the world, including Google and Stanford University, in addition to Meta.

Wonik Robotics has joined the "AI Alliance," an international artificial intelligence (AI) consortium led by Meta and IBM.