NAVER announced plans for a logistics subsidiary and a personal AI agent app on November 12, 2026, as it reported third-quarter revenue of KRW 3.4724 trillion, up 10.7% year over year. Operating profit fell 20.9% to KRW 451.3 billion as AI-related investment increased.
Delivery and Agent Services Target Transactions
The commerce business gives the subsidiary an established base of transactions. NAVER Platform services revenue rose 13.1% to KRW 473.6 billion, while Smartstore gross merchandise value, or the value of transactions on the platform, increased 6.4% despite the Chuseok holiday, according to the earnings presentation. Repeat purchases through the NAVER Plus Store app and membership supported that growth.
Chief executive Choi Soo-yeon said the logistics subsidiary will gradually strengthen delivery infrastructure around leased logistics centers and described a cycle in which better delivery increases transactions, with the resulting volume improving efficiency for sellers, users and partners. NAVER also plans to expand N-Delivery coverage.
The personal agent applies a similar transaction focus to NAVER’s AI services. The standalone app is scheduled for release by the end of 2026, following AI Briefing and AI Tab. NAVER said it is intended to extend services beyond recommendations and information delivery to actual purchases and visits, linking the agent’s task handling to existing search and commerce activity.
Choi described an agent that can anticipate tasks users need handled or perform cumbersome work on their behalf, with the goals of attracting new user groups and creating monetization opportunities. The product plan sits alongside efforts to improve AI Tab revisit and conversion rates and expand AI monetization in search.
AI Investment Compresses Margins
Operating margin narrowed to 13.0% from 18.2% a year earlier, showing the cost of the expansion more clearly than revenue growth alone. NAVER attributed the operating-profit decline to increased investment in infrastructure, content and offline data intended to strengthen AI competitiveness.
Infrastructure expense rose 29.1% to KRW 282.3 billion because of computing assets for internal use and data-center rents, the presentation reported. Marketing costs also increased on shopping promotions and Npay Connect terminal installations, so the quarterly pressure was not confined to AI infrastructure.
AI Factory Revenue Expected in 2027
NAVER said it has signed approximately KRW 2 trillion of computing-service supply contracts for the AI Factory business it is pursuing with Brookfield and NVIDIA. The contracts secure initial customers for capacity coming online in early 2027. Enterprise revenue within Global Opportunities grew 33.0% in the third quarter, providing an existing business line alongside the forthcoming infrastructure projects.
Choi said NAVER plans to pursue medium- and long-term contracts with large customers and expand its customer base among global AI companies, targeting both stability and profitability. Related revenue is expected to begin entering results in the first half of 2027.
The quarter sets up a clear operating question: whether logistics and agent-driven transactions can develop while AI Factory revenue remains a 2027 item and current investment is already compressing margins.
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