Asahi Intecc

Research evidence excerpt

Asahi Intecc

Global Markets Research

29 July 2026Asahi Intecc

7747.T 7747 JP / EQUITY: JAPAN PHARMACEUTICALS

Already high valuations limit appeal as a defensive play Rating

Remains Neutral

We lower our target price to ¥3,300, keep our Neutral rating Target price

Reduced from 3,400 JPY 3,300Keeping our Neutral rating; market pricing in slower gross margin improvement

Asahi Intecc's share price has fallen 15% from its previous high of ¥3,941 reached on 30 Closing price JPY 3,570June, to ¥3,353 on 24 July. The company outperformed market expectations for gross 28 July 2026

margin improvement in 25/6–26/6. However, as automation investments aimed at

Implied upside -7.6%improving gross margins from 2030 onward are likely to precede the resulting margin

improvements, we expect gross margin improvement to decelerate. We think this has led

to a slight decline in the market’s expectations. The stock has recently rebounded amid

rotation out of semiconductor-related stocks. However, we maintain our Neutral rating

Relative performance chartbecause we do not view the stock as an attractive defensive play as it already trades at a

premium valuation, reflecting its status as a growth stock.

We base our target price of ¥3,300 on an EV/EBITDA of 14.3x

We make no changes to our earnings forecasts, but lower our target price to ¥3,300. The

base year for our valuation remains FY27 (28/6). The average EV/EBITDA for the four

overseas companies we use as a benchmark has risen from 13.5x to 13.6x. Reflecting

lower expectations for gross margin improvement, we reduce the premium we assign from

10% to 5% and apply an EV/EBITDA multiple of 14.3x. The stock has traded in a P/E

range of 15–27x three-year forward forecasts since 23/6, and our target price of ¥3,300