Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

Happinet has sharply raised its operating profit forecast for the first half of the fiscal year ending March 2027, from 7.8 billion yen to 13.5 billion yen. That marks a 55.0 percent increase from the same period a year earlier, driven by strong performance in lottery products for convenience stores and trading cards in its toy business, as well as capsule toys in its amusement business. Meanwhile, Chugai Pharmaceutical saw its share price fall to a year-to-date low of 6,096 yen after its strategic partner Roche of Switzerland announced it was halting development of the anti-latent myostatin-sweeping antibody emugrobart for obesity. Chugai Pharmaceutical is set to receive the return of the licensing rights from Roche. The Nikkei Stock Average extended its decline, closing at 65,481.27 yen, down 396.35 yen from the previous day.

In the Tokyo stock market on the 9th, Accel, Happinet, Asahi Yukizai, NSD, and NaITO were bought after raising their earnings forecasts the previous day. Accel hit the daily limit-up with pro-rata allocation, lifting its first-half operating profit from a previous forecast of 970 million yen to 1.33 billion yen and its full-year figure from 1.2 billion yen to 2.29 billion yen, while also raising its annual dividend from 41 yen to 79 yen. Happinet raised its first-half operating profit from 7.8 billion yen to 13.5 billion yen; Asahi Yukizai lifted its first-half figure from 3.9 billion yen to 5.5 billion yen and its full-year figure from 8.5 billion yen to 12 billion yen, and increased its annual dividend from 130 yen to 180 yen. NSD raised its first-half operating profit from 8.4 billion yen to 8.9 billion yen and its full-year figure from 19.5 billion yen to 20.1 billion yen, while NaITO revised its full-year operating profit forecast upward from 400 million yen to 1.25 billion yen. Meanwhile, MediciNova hit the daily limit-down with pro-rata allocation after its Phase 2 clinical trial of MN-001 failed to show statistical superiority, and Chugai Pharmaceutical fell sharply for a second day after Roche decided to discontinue development of GYM329, a candidate treatment for obesity.

The main individual items announced on the 28th are as follows. NSD upwardly revised its consolidated earnings forecast for the fiscal year ending March 2027 and raised its year-end lump-sum dividend forecast from 97 yen to 100 yen. SBSHD will acquire all shares of Mitsubishi Chemical Logistics from Mitsubishi Chemical Group and make it a subsidiary. Chugai Pharma will discontinue development of GYM329 "Emgrobalt" for obesity. Happinet raised its consolidated operating profit forecast for the first half of the fiscal year ending March 2027 from 7.8 billion yen to 13.5 billion yen, as lottery products and trading cards performed well and hit products also emerged in capsule toys. AI Mekatek received orders for wafer-level packaging systems from two major overseas semiconductor-related manufacturers, with the order value at approximately 4.5 billion yen. Axel substantially upwardly revised its consolidated operating profit forecast for the fiscal year ending March 2027 to 2.29 billion yen, up 37.6 percent year on year, and increased its dividend forecast to 79 yen.

Chugai Pharmaceutical reported higher revenue and profit for the first half of the fiscal year ending December 2026, but its shares fell after the company left its full-year earnings forecast unchanged. Revenue rose 14.7% year on year to 663.3 billion yen, operating profit increased 16.9% to 319.6 billion yen, and interim profit grew 19.2% to 231.7 billion yen. In Japan, key products such as the ophthalmology drug Vabysmo drove growth, while overseas sales rose sharply on exports of Hemlibra to Roche and exports of an out-licensed dermatology drug. Other revenue, including royalty income, increased 44.5% to 96.8 billion yen. The stock briefly fell to the 6,800 yen level immediately after the earnings announcement, and on August 14 it closed at 6,933 yen, down about 3% from the previous day.