Company Reports

SoftBank Corporation's June-quarter revenue was up 9.4%, with operating profit up 4.0% and net profit up 3.3%. Underlying operating profit grew 9%, and net profit grew 7% excluding a one-time revaluation gain in the 2025 June quarter.

LY's ecosystem comprises Line, Yahoo Japan, and PayPay—Japan's largest messaging app, portal site, and QR code payment service, respectively.

June-quarter revenue and adjusted EBITDA grew 13.1% and 23.1% year on year, respectively. LY also announced plans to launch a tender offer for Kakaku.com jointly with Bain Capital, expected to begin in mid-September 2026. If it goes through, LY and Bain will hold 49.9% and 50.1% economic interests.

LY's ecosystem comprises Line, Yahoo Japan, and PayPay—Japan's largest messaging app, portal site, and QR code payment service, respectively.

SoftBank's fiscal 2025 revenue was up 7.6%, with operating profit up 5.4% and net profit up 4.7%. Fiscal 2026 guidance was for revenue growth of 6.6%, operating income growth of 5.5%, and net income growth of 1.7% with a JPY 8.8 dividend, up from JPY 8.6 in each of the past five years.

LY's ecosystem comprises Line, Yahoo Japan, and PayPay—Japan's largest messaging app, portal site, and QR-code payment service, respectively.

LY's March-quarter revenue and adjusted EBITDA both rose 11%, with broad-based growth—led by PayPay—more than offsetting weakness in search ads and ASKUL. For fiscal 2026, LY guides to JPY 2.2 trillion in revenue (up 10%) and JPY 585 billion in adjusted EBITDA (up 18%).

Shares in Dentsu, Hakuhodo, and LY have fallen 12%, 15%, and 19%, respectively, since September 2025. Advancements in artificial intelligence tools that enable automation in planning, creation, and execution of ads have accelerated investor concerns about AI's impact on ad-related stocks.

LY owns Line, Yahoo Japan, and PayPay, the largest messaging application, portal site, and QR code payment service, respectively, in Japan.

LY owns Line, Yahoo Japan, and PayPay, the largest messaging application, portal site, and QR code payment service, respectively, in Japan.

LY's December-quarter revenue and adjusted EBITDA declined by 0.7% and 2.3%, respectively, from last year, mainly due to a sharp decline in Askul's profitability, which offset growth in other businesses.

LY owns Line, Yahoo, and PayPay the largest messaging application, portal site, and QR code payment, respectively, in Japan.

LY's September-quarter revenue and adjusted EBITDA grew by 9.4% and 11.3% year over year. Robust growth in PayPay more than offset the decline in media and commerce profits, driven by investments in artificial intelligence and higher SG&A costs from new subsidiaries, Beenos and Line Bank Taiwan.

LY's June quarter revenue and adjusted EBITDA grew by 5.7% and 3.4% from last year. Search ads fell 7.7% but robust growth in account ads and PayPay more than offset the decline. LY maintains 2025 guidance of JPY 2,100 billion and JPY 500 billion-JPY 510 billion for revenue and adjusted EBITDA.

LY owns Line, Yahoo, and PayPay the largest messaging application, portal site, and QR code payment, respectively, in Japan.

LY owns Line, Yahoo, and PayPay the largest messaging application, portal site, and QR code payment, respectively, in Japan.

For fiscal year 2025 (ending March 2026), Line Yahoo guides for consolidated revenue of JPY 2.1 trillion and adjusted EBITDA of JPY 500 billion-JPY 510 billion. Line Yahoo also explained growth strategies that focus on the Line app, PayPay, AI, and plans for PayPay's IPO, potentially in the US.

After reevaluating our moat ratings for our Japanese e-commerce coverage, we upgrade our moat ratings for both LY and Zozo to wide from narrow and maintain our narrow moat rating for Mercari and no-moat rating for Rakuten. Out of the four companies, we believe LY shares have the greatest upside potential as we believe the market is underappreciating the value of future synergies between Line, Yahoo, and PayPay, which are leaders in their respective markets.

After reevaluating our moat ratings for our Japanese e-commerce coverage, we upgrade our moat ratings for both LY and Zozo to wide from narrow and maintain our narrow moat rating for Mercari and no moat rating for Rakuten. Out of the four companies, we believe LY shares have the greatest upside potential as we believe the market is underappreciating the value of future synergies between Line, Yahoo, and PayPay, which are leaders in their respective markets.

LY owns Line, Yahoo, and PayPay the largest messaging application, portal site, and QR code payment, respectively, in Japan.