Nissin Foods Holdings

Research evidence excerpt

Global Markets Research

Nissin Foods Holdings

19 August 2026

2897.T 2897 JP / EQUITY: JAPAN FOOD, BEVERAGES & TOBACCO

We look favorably on the company's commitment to securing

profits in a challenging business climate

Rating

Remains

Risks remain, including a rise in costs because of the situation in the

Middle East and a downturn in the competitive environment in the US

Remains

Investment stance: Still too early to say that bad news has run its course, but we

like management's commitment to securing profits

We expect risks such as higher costs driven by the situation in the Middle East and tough

competition in the US to ramp up from Q2, and we think it is premature to conclude that all

the bad news has run its course. However, profits were higher than we expected in Q1,

and we commend Nissin Foods Holdings' commitment to securing profits even in a

challenging business climate. We retain our Neutral rating and target price of ¥3,000,

which we obtain by multiplying our 27/3 EPS forecast by a P/E of 18x, broadly in line with

the food sector average.

27/3 Q1 results: Better-than-expected performance, particularly for instant noodles

in Japan

Core operating profits in existing businesses rose 14% y-y to ¥19.7bn in 27/3 Q1. Profits

benefited from successful price hikes for instant noodles in Japan, strong sales in Brazil,

and improved equity-method income. Management said that profits had beaten its internal

projections by around ¥6.0bn in Q1, mainly due to sales promotion and personnel costs

for instant noodles in Japan and in its Brazil operations (of which around ¥3.0bn was

attributable to timing). Profits were in line with our forecast of ¥15.3bn in the overseas

businesses segment but higher than we had expected in the Japan instant noodles

business. We had been concerned about lower sales volumes and higher sales promotion

costs, as the company hiked prices ahead of rivals, but it reined in costs by more than we

had expected. We think the performance partly reflects the front-loading of profits in order

to achieve full-year guidance ahead of a more pronounced ramp up in costs due to the

situation in the Middle East.

…