Kakao has achieved record quarterly results, driven by growth in its advertising and financial sectors. The company also announced plans to launch a delivery order and payment service in collaboration with Coupang Eats, aiming to enhance profitability through user-centric services on KakaoTalk, despite the AI sector not yet generating significant revenue.
On August 6, Kakao reported consolidated revenue of 2.98 trillion won and operating profit of 277 billion won for the second quarter of 2026, marking increases of 9% and 36%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. Both revenue and operating profit are the highest ever recorded for a quarter, with an operating profit margin of 13%, up 3 percentage points.
The improvement in performance was led by the platform division, particularly the TalkBiz advertising and commerce business, which saw revenue rise 17% to 1.23 trillion won. TalkBiz advertising and subscription revenue increased by 14% to 399.9 billion won, setting a new quarterly record.
Display advertising revenue on KakaoTalk grew by 28%, driven by the rise of feed-type ads. Excluding Bizboard, display advertising revenue tripled, expanding its share of total display advertising to 45%. Business message revenue also grew by 20%.
The company views the current period as one where the growth of existing advertising and commerce is beginning to offset the investment burden in AI. Shin Jong-hwan, Kakao's Chief Financial Officer, stated, “Currently, AI is in a stage where investment precedes revenue contribution.”
Kakao's proposed AI revenue model includes transaction fees from agent commerce, subscription fees for AI services, and AI-based advertising. The company plans to enter the relatively weak search advertising market by understanding user interests and purchase intentions during conversations and searches.
Kakao CEO Jeong Shin-a said, “We aim to lay the groundwork for AI popularization by the end of this year and begin full-scale monetization next year. By 2028, AI will become a major revenue source for TalkBiz.”
In the second half of this year, the focus will be on establishing a user and transaction base for AI. The 'ChatGPT for Kakao' service has already attracted approximately 13 million cumulative subscribers as of Q2. Kakao plans to increase the number of monthly active users (MAU) utilizing AI services on KakaoTalk to over 10 million by the end of the year.
The first collaboration to establish a transaction base will be with Coupang Eats. Kakao has formed an A2A partnership with Coupang Eats to connect the AI agents of both companies, enabling services that handle food recommendations, orders, and payments within the KakaoTalk chat window.
CEO Jeong emphasized, “This is not just about adding a food ordering feature to KakaoTalk; it’s the first step in connecting user intent to actual actions and transactions through AI, creating new user habits.” The two companies are discussing the service structure and operational methods to link AI experiences within KakaoTalk to real transactions.
Kakao has stated it will focus on business-to-consumer (B2C) services rather than infrastructure projects like AI data centers and GPU clouds. Instead of investing heavily in infrastructure, the company aims to apply AI to user touchpoints within KakaoTalk and expand collaborations with external businesses.
CEO Jeong remarked, “The area where Kakao can create the highest competitiveness in the AI era is not the infrastructure layer. We will concentrate our capabilities on creating AI services that users continuously use in their daily lives.”
* This article has been translated by AI.
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