[Edaily Reporter YU JIN-HEE ] As the shadow of an economic downturn deepens and the advertising market remains frozen solid, the AI-based ad tech company Wise birds Inc.(273060)has become the only publicly listed advertising firm to break through the 20% operating profit margin threshold—long considered an “insurmountable barrier.” This marks the company’s best performance since its founding, achieved amid a “tough stretch” for the advertising industry, in which seven out of 18 KOSDAQ-listed advertising companies posted operating losses in the first half of this year.

Following its demonstration of explosive profitability through structural reforms centered on its AI automation platform, Wise birds Inc. is now set to take a new leap forward by establishing a dedicated team to target the U.S. direct-to-consumer (DTC) market for prescription drugs, which is valued at approximately $26.2 billion (about 35 trillion won).

Outperforming the KOSDAQ average by 4.6 times… The only listed advertising firm among 18 to “exceed a 20% operating profit margin”

According to the Korea Exchange on the 7th, based on the consolidated financial results for the first half of 2026 of KOSDAQ companies with a December fiscal year-end, the average operating profit margin of 1,264 companies stood at just 5.14%. This means that an operating profit margin of 20% is a figure rarely seen not only in the traditional advertising agency industry but also among all manufacturing and IT companies listed on KOSDAQ.

Even the 129 companies included in the “KOSDAQ 150” index—composed of KOSDAQ’s leading blue-chip stocks—averaged just 7.10%. Wise birds Inc.’s operating profit margin for the first half of this year was recorded at 23.5%. This figure is 4.6 times the overall KOSDAQ average and 16.4 percentage points higher than the average for companies in the KOSDAQ 150.

The gap becomes even more pronounced when looking specifically at the advertising sector. A comprehensive analysis of the first-half reports from 18 listed advertising companies revealed that the median operating profit margin was a mere 4.2%. Even the average operating profit margin of the 11 companies that posted a profit was only 10.7%, more than half that of Wise birds Inc.

Wise birds Inc.’s consolidated revenue for the first half of the year was 24.54 billion won, a 25.2% increase year-over-year, while operating profit surged 125.4% to 5.77 billion won. Among the 18 listed advertising agencies, only two companies—Wise birds Inc. and a firm that went public last July—simultaneously met the criteria for high growth and high margins: revenue growth, an operating profit, year-over-year profit growth, an operating profit margin of 10% or higher, and revenue expansion of 20% or more.

The advertising agency industry typically involves executing advertisers’ budgets across media channels and collecting a set agency commission, resulting in slim margins. Due to structural limitations—where selling, general, and administrative expenses (SG&A) increase in proportion to the number of employees—profit margins have generally remained in the single digits.

The secret behind Wise birds Inc.’s ability to break free from these industry limitations lies in its proprietary AI advertising automation solution, “Nest Ads Manager.” With Nest Ads Manager, media companies simply need to install a software development kit (SDK), and AI automatically handles the entire process—from planning to delivery and settlement. It is a classic “software platform cost structure” in which there are virtually no additional fixed costs, even as new media partnerships increase.

In fact, of the 4.95 billion won in revenue growth recorded in the first half of the year, a full 3.21 billion won—amounting to 64.9%—was directly translated into an increase in operating profit. Revenue from the Technology Business Division surged 135.9% year-over-year in the first half, and in the second quarter, it achieved an operating profit margin of 11.6%, successfully turning a profit for the first time in four years. The number of media outlets using Nest Ads Manager increased to 16, and net revenue in June grew by 100% compared to January.

Consequently, despite strong earnings and efforts to enhance shareholder value, the industry views Wise birds Inc.’s current market capitalization as severely undervalued—standing at just one-quarter of that of #MadUp, a newly listed company with a profit margin of 12.9%.

To address this situation, Wise birds Inc. carried out a 2 billion won share buyback and a 1.5 billion won share cancellation in May, and completed a 5-for-1 stock consolidation. The new shares resulting from the consolidation will be listed on the 9th, and the market is watching closely to see if this will narrow the extreme gap between the company’s earnings and its market capitalization.

Choi Ho-jun, co-CEO of Wise birds Inc., explained, “This is why the investment industry assesses our business model as similar to that of AppLovin, a leading high-yield AI ad-tech company on the U.S. Nasdaq market,” adding, “We will fully deploy ‘Ad-Visor,’ our creative AI solution, as our primary growth driver in the second half of the year to further boost profitability.”

Launch of a Dedicated Team for the $35 Trillion U.S. Bio DTC Market… Poised to Lead the Era of Direct-to-Consumer Sales in K-Bio

Wise birds Inc.’s strategy is to achieve a quantum leap by combining “global bio DTC marketing”—a next-generation, high-value-added market—with the overwhelming margin strength it has built through its AI platform. The domestic pharmaceutical and biotech industry has recently undergone a major shift toward an era of “direct sales,” in which local subsidiaries conduct sales directly without going through local U.S. distributors, as seen with “Zimpentra” by Celltrion(068270)and “cenobamate” by SK BIOPHARMACEUTICALS(326030).

To expand prescriptions in the U.S., marketing that targets not only physicians but also the end consumers—the patients—is essential. The U.S. is the largest market worldwide where direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising for prescription drugs is legally permitted.

Wise birds Inc. recently established a dedicated U.S. DTC advertising team and has made a bold entry into the North American pharmaceutical and biotech marketing market. The company holds top-tier partnerships with 11 of the world’s leading Big Tech media platforms—including Meta, Google, and TikTok—as a single service provider. Its global media management capabilities are unparalleled in Korea, as evidenced by its selection as a “TikTok Marketing Partner” (TMP)—a first for a Korean advertising agency.

The U.S. biotech advertising market is currently undergoing a rapid shift from traditional, legacy TV-centric formats to digital platforms centered on short-form videos and search. Furthermore, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) enforces the strict “Fair Balance” principle, which requires equal weight to be given to both efficacy and side effects, and there are stringent regulatory barriers, including the requirement to pass each media platform’s own pre-screening process.

Based on direct partnerships with 11 global media outlets, Wise birds Inc. incorporates FDA and media review guidelines from the initial planning and production stages, thereby eliminating trial-and-error and regulatory risks for domestic biotech companies at the source. Furthermore, in line with the trend of patients using interactive AI to search for drug information, the company proactively provides Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) services.

CEO Choi emphasized, “K-Bio companies often face difficulties in North American marketing due to communication barriers and cultural differences with local foreign agencies, even after developing excellent therapeutics,” adding, “By providing top-tier global media solutions in real time and in Korean right here in Korea, we will stand as a strong vanguard for the birth of K-Bio blockbuster new drugs.”

He continued, “Bio DTC advertising is a high-profit industry characterized by high CPM rates and long contract renewal periods,” adding, “By establishing a sound platform cost structure and expanding global bio marketing, we will accelerate the arrival of an era with 1 trillion won in annual advertising revenue and dramatically increase our corporate value.”