FANUC raised its full-year forecast on 23 October after operating profit for the six months to September rose 35.7% to ¥116.7bn on sales up 16.2% to ¥473.7bn. Profit attributable to owners of the parent rose 41.0% to ¥112.6bn.
For the year to March 2027, the company now expects sales of ¥1.01tn, operating profit of ¥240.7bn and net profit of ¥228.3bn. Those figures are 6.9%, 10.4% and 15.3% above the forecast it issued on 31 July. FANUC's results presentation says sales are expected to exceed last fiscal year's record and pass ¥1tn.
| Metric | 31 July forecast | Current forecast | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales | ¥948.1bn | ¥1.01tn | +6.9% |
| Operating profit | ¥218.0bn | ¥240.7bn | +10.4% |
| Net profit | ¥198.0bn | ¥228.3bn | +15.3% |
Where the demand is
FANUC's presentation says factory-automation demand was strong, led by China, where AI data centres, semiconductor-related work, machining of humanoid-robot parts and new-energy vehicles drove the market. Japan, South Korea and Taiwan also benefited from AI data centre, semiconductor and aerospace demand. In the first half, sales rose 15.4% to ¥119.9bn in the FA (CNC systems) division, 12.6% to ¥194.3bn in robots, 31.2% to ¥83.3bn in Robomachine (machine tools) and 12.7% to ¥76.2bn in service.
Orders were firmer still. July-September orders rose 49.0% from a year earlier, with FA orders up 130.1%. The operating margin for the half was 24.6%, 3.5 percentage points higher than a year before.
China is not uniformly strong: FANUC's quarterly figures show China robot sales down 14.3% year on year in July-September, and the earnings release says auto-industry demand there stalled while general industry was strong. The forecast also assumes an average of ¥150 to the dollar and ¥175 to the euro from October to March, against first-half averages of ¥159.37 and ¥184.35.
Dividend and buyback
The board set an interim dividend of ¥72.54 a share, against ¥51.33 a year earlier. The total payout is ¥67.1bn, against ¥47.9bn, with a payment date of 1 December and a record date of 30 September. FANUC said the figure follows its policy, set out in its April 2026 results, of a 60% consolidated payout ratio. The earnings release gives no year-end dividend and says it will be disclosed as soon as it can be.
Separately, the board authorized market purchases of up to 10 million shares, 1.08% of shares outstanding excluding treasury stock, for up to ¥50bn. The buying window runs from 26 October 2026 to 30 April 2027. FANUC cited the need to respond to changes in the business environment and keep its capital policy flexible. Those figures are ceilings, not purchases made. At 30 September the company held 57,358,897 treasury shares.
FANUC spent ¥50.0bn buying its own shares in the first half, against ¥665mn a year earlier, according to the cash-flow statement. Earlier Tokyo Brief coverage is also available. The interim earnings release is outside the scope of review by a certified public accountant or audit firm.