HD Hyundai Electric
267260 · KRXA 47-year-old Korean transformer maker just posted its most profitable year ever, almost entirely on the back of American AI data centers.
Who they are
HD Hyundai Electric traces back to 1977, when Hyundai Heavy Industries launched a heavy electrical equipment division that began producing transformers the following year. It was folded back into Hyundai Heavy Industries in 1993, spun out again as an independent company in April 2017 when Hyundai Heavy Industries split into four separate businesses, and took its current name as part of the broader HD Hyundai group rebrand. It joined the KOSPI 200 index in December 2023.
What they do
The company manufactures high-voltage transformers, circuit breakers, switchgear, and marine electrical equipment, with a US manufacturing base in Alabama that lets it sidestep import tariffs that have hit competitors. In September 2025, it landed the largest single contract in its history: a KRW 277.8 billion deal to supply 24 units of 765kV transformers and reactors to the largest utility in Texas. It has also picked up multiple contracts tied to the Southwest Power Pool's long-term 765kV transmission backbone project, one of the largest renewable-energy grid buildouts in the US.
How HD Hyundai Electric makes money
Transformer and switchgear sales, overwhelmingly North America-weighted at this point. FY2025 revenue reached KRW 4.0795 trillion (up 22.8% year-over-year) with operating profit of KRW 995.3 billion (up 48.8%), both company records, on annual orders of $4.274 billion that beat the company's own $3.822 billion target. By Q1 2026, the order backlog had grown to $7.888 billion, up 17.2% from year-end 2025, with North America alone accounting for $5.456 billion of it — roughly 70% of the total. Management has said the backlog already secures more than three years of future revenue.
The bigger trend
HD Hyundai Electric is one of three Korean power-equipment makers — alongside Hyosung Heavy Industries and LS Electric — that together held a combined order backlog of roughly KRW 37.4 trillion as of Q1 2026, up nearly KRW 8 trillion from year-end 2025, with some industry voices suggesting the group could clear KRW 40 trillion within the year. Korean media have started explicitly framing these three as having become "core US supply chain" companies for the AI buildout, a notable status shift for an industry that used to be a domestic infrastructure afterthought.
Analysts consider the company's own 2026 guidance — $4.222 billion in new orders, KRW 4.35 trillion revenue, KRW 1.28 trillion operating profit (up 28%) — conservative, partly because it assumes a relatively low won-dollar exchange rate. Watch whether actual results beat guidance as they did in 2025, and whether the Alabama plant's capacity keeps pace with an order book that's already outrunning production.
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Frequently asked questions
No. HD Hyundai Electric is part of the HD Hyundai group, which originates from Hyundai Heavy Industries' shipbuilding and industrial businesses. It has no corporate relationship with Hyundai Motor Group, which makes Hyundai and Genesis cars.
Manufacturing transformers in the US rather than exporting them from South Korea lets the company avoid import tariffs affecting competitors and positions it closer to its largest customer base of American utilities and data center developers.
The company's order backlog reached $7.888 billion by Q1 2026, up 17.2% from year-end 2025, with North America accounting for roughly 70% of that total, or about $5.456 billion.
This page describes public value-chain positioning for informational purposes only. It is not investment advice, and inclusion here is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Figures reflect public reporting as of mid-2026 and may have changed since.