F3/27 1Q Results: Strong Beats in Both Sales & Profits to Start F3/27

Research evidence excerpt

F3/27 1Q Results: Strong Beats in Both Sales & Profits to Start F3/27

Update

July 28, 2026 10:27 AM GMT

Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities Co., Ltd.+MKeyence (6861) | Japan Takeshi Kitaura

Equity Analyst

F3/27 1Q Results: Strong Beats Takeshi.Kitaura@morganstanleymufg.comMorgan Stanley Asia Limited+ +81 3 6836-5427

Lisa Jiang

Equity Analystin Both Sales & Profits to Start Lisa.Jiang1@morganstanley.com +852 2239-1282

Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities Co., Ltd.+F3/27 Takumi Okano

Research Associate

Takumi.Okano@morganstanleymufg.com +81 3 6836-8411

AlphaSignals Earnings Reaction

Strengthens our thesis Meaningful upside Meaningful revision higher

Impact to our thesis Financial results versus consensus Direction of next 12-month

consensus EPS

Source: Company data, Morgan Stanley Research

Keyence (6861.T, 6861 JT)

Key Takeaways

Factory Automation | Japan

1Q OP was a strong ¥187.1bn, and handily beat our forecast (¥159.0bn) and Stock Rating Overweight

consensus (¥158.0bn) Industry View Attractive

Price target ¥95,000

Sales growth of 33% YoY exceeded our expectation for around 20% growth. Shr price, close (Jul 28, 2026) ¥70,950

Mkt cap, curr, basic (bn) ¥17.2

Gross margins climbed even higher, by 2.4ppt YoY to 85%. Avg daily trading value (bn) ¥47.4

Keyence did not announce a share buyback, which some had been expecting. We

continue to assume a buyback announcement in 4Q.

1Q OP exceeded general market expectations and should alleviate concerns about

industry earnings that emerged after peer results. We believe Keyence's direct-sales,

fabless, and high-margin business model can continue to demonstrate defensive

characteristics even during significant swings in market sentiment toward

semiconductor-related stocks. On capital allocation, management explained that the