Samsung SDI Co. (006400.KS) marked its 56th founding anniversary on Tuesday with a forward-looking pledge from Chief Executive Choi Joo-seon: the battery and materials maker expects a full financial turnaround this year and is committing to reinvent itself as an "AI Native" company to dominate future markets.
CEO Reaffirms Turnaround Promise
Speaking at the company's anniversary ceremony held at its Giheung headquarters in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, President Choi said the company has spent the past year quietly strengthening its fundamentals.
"With a posture of pessimistic optimism, we have silently built our fundamentals over the past year and laid the foundation for a rebound," Choi said. "As promised at the beginning of this year, I expect a performance turnaround this year."
Choi enumerated several milestones he credited as proof of that recovery, including a string of consecutive energy storage system (ESS) project wins, new supply agreements with global premium electric vehicle manufacturers, efforts to restore the intrinsic competitiveness of cylindrical batteries, and early-mover positions in high-value materials — including advanced packaging semiconductor substrates and high-definition, high-efficiency display materials.
Even so, the CEO urged continued discipline. "There is still a long way to go," he said. "For these achievements to translate into sustainable growth, above all else, consistent execution is essential."
'Agentic AI' as the Next Paradigm
In the second half of his address, Choi pivoted sharply to artificial intelligence, calling on Samsung SDI's workforce to accelerate adoption across all business processes.
"AI has already permeated every corner of our daily lives," Choi said. "To preempt and dominate the future market, we must completely transform ourselves into a genuine 'AI Native' company."
He singled out "Agentic AI" — autonomous AI systems that act and reason without step-by-step human instruction — as a transformative force.
"Agentic AI is a paradigm shift that fundamentally changes how we work and how we structure our business model," Choi said. "We will boldly ride this wave of change and rise again as the world's No. 1 technology company."
Context: ESS Wins and EV Supply Deals
The anniversary address lands as Samsung SDI works through a difficult stretch. The South Korean battery maker has faced pressure from slowing EV demand growth in key Western markets, Chinese competitor LFP battery cost advantages, and the ramp-up costs associated with its all-solid-state battery development program.
However, the ESS segment has provided meaningful relief. Surging demand for utility-scale battery storage — driven partly by AI-era power grid investment — has translated into a pipeline of large ESS contracts that Choi referenced without disclosing specific figures.
On the cylindrical battery front, Samsung SDI supplies the high-nickel 21700 and 4680 formats to premium EV customers. Restoring competitiveness in that segment is seen as key to reversing the operating profit contraction the company reported in recent quarters.
The semiconductor materials and display materials businesses, while smaller, offer higher margins and are growing faster — a portfolio diversification that Choi implicitly highlighted as part of the company's resilience strategy.
Outlook
Samsung SDI has not formally revised its 2026 financial guidance. Tuesday's anniversary statement — with the CEO's explicit expectation of a "performance turnaround" — represents the clearest bullish signal from management since the company's Q4 2025 results call. Analysts will be watching Q2 2026 results, expected in late July, to see whether ESS revenues and EV supply agreements are flowing through sufficiently to restore sustained profitability.
