In case you missed it, Japan Most Read Publications: 9 Jun to 15 Jun 2026

Research evidence excerpt

In case you missed it, Japan Most Read Publications: 9 Jun to 15 Jun 2026

Times reported that the US asset management company Apollo Global Management is

looking into possibly acquiring life insurance subsidiaries of T&D Holdings and Orix, aimed at accelerating its business

expansion in Japan. According to the report, discussions are still in the early stages, but Japan’s Financial Services Agency

(FSA) has expressed reservations about at least one case. We have not confirmed the accuracy of the article, but we do not

find it surprising that overseas private capital such as Apollo is very interested in Japan’s life insurance industry. We think

Japanese life insurers may attract even greater attention going forward.

| Kikkoman (2801) (Satoshi Fujiwara) (2801 JP, OW)

Upgrade to Overweight; offset cost growth via pricing power; ROE to improve from FY2027

We raise our December 2026 price target for Kikkoman to ¥1,950 (previously ¥1,550) and upgrade our rating to Overweight

from Neutral. We expect ROE to resume growth from FY2027, one year sooner than previously expected, due to progress in

offsetting the impact of cost inflation and higher fixed costs from the start-up of a new US plant by raising prices in domestic and

overseas markets. Over the past year, the stock has traded at a P/E of around 20x based on one-year forward Bloomberg

consensus estimates, but we believe the valuation range could increase due to clearer visibility for ROE improvement. Our new

¥1,950 price target is based on a fair-value P/E of 25x on our EPS estimate in FY2027, when we expect a full-year contribution

from price hikes (our prior price target was based on a P/E of 23x on our FY2026 EPS estimate).

Japan Quant Strategy (Masanari Takada)