IT Services & Telecoms Sector: Apr–Jun 2026 earnings review: Key stocks and themes

Research evidence excerpt

J P M O R G A N

Asia Pacific Equity Research

18 August 2026

IT Services & Telecoms Sector

Apr–Jun 2026 earnings review: Key stocks and themes

With Apr–Jun 2026 results in across our coverage, we set out key points for the

sector and our views. The external environment for the IT services sector was

broadly unchanged, with domestic demand strong and overseas markets remained

difficult. Apr–Jun results that drew the most attention were (1) Obic Business

Consultants (4733, Overweight), which announced price hikes for Bugyo Cloud;

(2) Nomura Research Institute (4307, Overweight), where 1Q missed market

expectations and the shares corrected; (3) BIPROGY (8056, Neutral), where

trouble with an internal system overhaul left 1Q results below market expectations;

(4) Trend Micro (4704, Neutral), where cloud and AI costs weighed on 2Q

results; and (5) Otsuka Corp (4768, Underweight), where software sales are

helping cover the pullback from Windows 11 special demand. 1Q results at the

three telecom carriers (NTT, KDDI and SoftBank) were solid. At NTT (9432,

Neutral), expectations have risen for a recovery at NTT Docomo from FY2027.

At KDDI (9433, Overweight), we see no negatives beyond its removal from the

JPX400 index, announced August 7, the same day as results. At SoftBank (9434,

Overweight), we think the market took a positive view of greater clarity on its

cloud and AI business strategy. In telecoms, we think attention will turn to

subscriber acquisition strategies following substantial revisions to KDDI's

roaming agreement with Rakuten Mobile in September, and to how the three

carriers position themselves. We make Nomura Research Institute, where we think

the share price correction has been excessive, our top pick in IT services, and

among the three carriers we continue to find SoftBank attractive.

Nomura Research Institute:1Q results did not surprise versus our estimates.

Market expectations had risen after a competitor reported shortly beforehand,

and the selling on disappointment looks unrelated to NRI's fundamentals. The

domestic consulting numbers that unsettled the market (orders -7.6% YoY,

…