[Edaily Reporter Lee So-Hyun ] Naver (NAVER(035420)) posted its highest-ever quarterly revenue in the second quarter. The expansion was driven by the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into core businesses such as advertising and e-commerce, as well as growth in its global consumer-to-consumer (C2C) business.

However, operating profit fell slightly year-over-year due to strategic expenses, including investments in AI infrastructure, the expansion of N Pay Connect terminals, and World Cup broadcasting rights. The key challenge for the second half of this year will be monetizing investments in AI, e-commerce, and offline payments through AI Briefing ads, N Delivery and Membership, and the expansion of N Pay Connect.

On the 7th, Naver held a conference call to announce its second-quarter 2026 earnings, reporting consolidated revenue of 3.3888 trillion won and operating profit of 520.3 billion won. Revenue increased by 16.2% year-over-year, while operating profit decreased by 0.2%. Revenue by business segment was 1.9022 trillion won for the Naver Platform, 470.7 billion won for the Financial Platform, and 1.0159 trillion won for Global Initiatives.

Kim Hee-cheol, Naver’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), explained, “Second-quarter revenue was driven by strong growth in global C2C and strong performance in shopping,” adding, “Operating profit remained at a level similar to the same period last year due to one-time costs—such as the deployment of N Pay Connect terminals and the recognition of strategic IP like World Cup broadcasting rights—as well as planned infrastructure investments, including GPU purchases.”

AI Tab Reaches 10 Million Users… Full-Scale Ad Monetization Begins

Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon highlighted the achievements of the company’s action-oriented AI services during the conference call that day. AI Tab, officially launched on June 25, surpassed 10 million monthly active users (MAU) as of early August. CEO Choi said, “AI Tab is quickly establishing itself as a new search experience,” adding, “The weekly return rate has also more than doubled compared to the early testing phase.”

The AI Tab goes beyond simple search answers; it aims to provide actionable AI search that connects to Naver services—such as shopping and local listings—and leads to purchases and reservations. CEO Choi noted, “The click-through rate (CTR) for shopping and local content has exceeded 40%, confirming that user exploration is leading to actual purchases and reservations.” Naver plans to add a real estate listing search feature and a Whale browser-specific agent in the third quarter, and will also launch a health agent by the end of the year.

AI Briefing Ads are also a key pillar of monetization for the second half of the year. Following testing in the second quarter, AI Briefing Ads were officially launched at the end of July; they have shown a 30% higher cost per click and a 30% higher click-through rate compared to existing search ads. The purchase conversion rate has improved by more than threefold. CFO Kim explained that AI contributed to more than 60% of the increase in advertising revenue.

Strengthening N Delivery and Membership… First 1 Trillion Won in Global Revenue

In the commerce sector, the combined effects of the Naver Plus Store app, membership programs, and N Delivery were evident. Second-quarter transaction volume on Smart Store increased by 15.5% year-over-year, while transaction volume on the Naver Plus Store app rose by more than 35%. Approximately 80% of customers who made purchases via the app were membership users, and following enhancements to free shipping and free return benefits, the purchase frequency of N Delivery membership customers increased by about 29%.

As of June, Smart Store N Delivery transaction volume had increased by 76% year-over-year, and coverage exceeded 20%, putting the service on track to meet its year-end target of 25%. Naver is standardizing logistics conditions and operational standards by increasing direct contracts with sellers. The volume of direct contracts has more than quadrupled year-over-year, and the company aims to raise the proportion of direct contracts to over half by the end of the year.

CEO Choi stated, “Starting this October, we plan to support fast returns through a membership-exclusive return center and fully launch a dedicated early-morning delivery service,” adding, “We will further strengthen the virtuous cycle between membership and N Delivery and accelerate the growth of N Delivery in the second half of the year.”

In the financial platform segment, N Pay Connect was presented as a new growth driver. In the second quarter, Naver Pay transaction volume reached 25.2 trillion won, a 21.0% increase year-over-year. CEO Choi announced plans to develop N Pay Connect into an AI platform for merchants that connects offline data to the Naver ecosystem. Naver also set a goal to expand the volume of offline payments based on Naver IDs to 130 trillion won within five years.

The Global Challenge segment surpassed 1 trillion won in quarterly revenue for the first time. In the second quarter, Global Challenge revenue reached 1.0159 trillion won, a 24.4% increase year-over-year. C2C revenue surged 74.9%, driven by growth at Poshmark, Soda, and Wallapop. Poshmark saw revenue grow by more than 40% thanks to improvements in AI-based search and recommendation quality, while Soda more than doubled both its revenue and transaction volume due to a boom in trading cards.

Secured 200 MW of floor space for AI Factory

Plans for the AI Factory project, being pursued in collaboration with NVIDIA, have also taken shape. Naver stated that it is targeting 55 MW in the first half of 2027, 100 MW by the end of 2027, and 200 MW by 2028, explaining that it will maximize the use of externally leased floor space up to 200 MW and that “almost all of it has already been secured.”

The company stated that it will need global partners for the expansion phase beyond 200MW to reach 1GW. It explained that concrete discussions are underway regarding partnerships for data center construction and cloud specifications in the Middle East, while efforts in South America are still in the early stages. Naver’s strategy is to first establish a 200MW-scale reference project based on domestic demand and then target global sovereign AI demand, which prioritizes data sovereignty.

Investment burdens are expected to continue in the second half of the year. CFO Kim said that operating profit and profit margins may decline slightly compared to the first half due to factors such as the aggressive expansion of N Pay Connect terminals. However, he added that this would not affect cash flow or investment capacity.

Naver plans to convert the returns on its investments into new revenue streams through AI advertising, N Delivery, N Pay Connect, global C2C, and AI Factory.

Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon said, “By recently forming a strategic partnership with NVIDIA to advance our AI Factory business, Naver has established a foundation that allows us to rapidly expand the business while minimizing the initial capital burden,” and “By proactively securing customers for our initial operational capacity through NVIDIA’s ecosystem—including major global clients—and our own corporate and public-sector customer base, we will generate meaningful revenue and profit early on and establish a new growth engine in the global AI computing market,” she said.