FY2027-Q1 broadly tracked the full-year plan after the upward revision, but net income is progressing slowly

Revenue in the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2027 was ¥3,214 million, up 75.3% year on year. Operating profit was ¥415 million, up 338.6%, ordinary profit was ¥463 million, up 242.1%, and quarterly net income was ¥316 million, up 250.2%. Compared with revenue of ¥1,833 million and operating profit of ¥94 million in the year-earlier quarter, the company made substantial progress not only in sales but also in operating-level profitability. The company attributed the results mainly to a recovery in demand related to semiconductor manufacturing equipment, expansion in front-end equipment, the full-scale commencement of investment in inspection equipment, and the completion and delivery of products from its order backlog.

Compared with the full-year forecast, first-quarter revenue of ¥3,214 million represents progress of 25.7%, while operating profit of ¥415 million represents 24.1%. With one quarter, or one-fourth of the year, complete, revenue and operating profit were close to a simple time-based run rate, suggesting a broadly on-track start against the plan following the upward revision. This is only a mechanical comparison that does not account for seasonality or delivery timing from the second quarter onward, however. Whether the company can maintain the same pace through the first half will be the key point to verify in the next results.

Net income was ¥316 million, representing progress of 16.6% against the full-year forecast of ¥1,900 million, below the progress rates for revenue and operating profit. The only extraordinary loss in the first quarter was a ¥0 thousand loss on disposal of fixed assets, and the amount of extraordinary income and the assumptions for extraordinary gains and losses included in the full-year net income forecast have not been disclosed. It is therefore not possible at this stage to determine whether the full-year net income forecast can be explained by the recovery in operating profit alone, or whether the company is assuming contributions from non-operating and extraordinary gains and losses, including the sale of cross-held shares.

In the next results for FY2027-H1, it will be necessary to confirm not only whether revenue and operating profit continue to track the full-year plan, but also why net income is lagging. In particular, investors should check whether margins can be maintained after deliveries of products from the order backlog have run their course, and whether the company discloses the presence and amount of extraordinary gains and losses and gains on sales of investment securities underpinning the ¥1,900 million full-year net income forecast.