Kubota's first-half numbers came in well ahead of its own script, and the company used the gap to raise its outlook for the rest of the year rather than simply banking the surprise.
For the six months to June 30, 2026, operating profit rose 64.7% year-on-year to ¥235.6bn, beating the company's own February guidance by 47.2%. Revenue climbed 16.2% to ¥1.69tn, also running 5.6% ahead of plan. Profit attributable to owners of the parent jumped 87.8% to ¥173.7bn, lifting basic earnings per share to ¥152.96 from ¥80.60 a year earlier.
Kubota's own filing credits the beat to an improving yen and refunds on US tariffs, plus price increases and higher volumes in North American machinery, even as tariff-related cost increases and general inflation worked the other way. On the strength of that mix, the company raised its full-year operating profit forecast by ¥100bn, or 33.3%, to ¥400bn, and lifted its net profit forecast by ¥79bn, or 37.6%, to ¥289bn. Revenue guidance rose by ¥130bn to ¥3.28tn.
| Metric | Previous Forecast (Feb 2026) | Revised Forecast (Aug 2026) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | ¥3.15tn | ¥3.28tn | +¥130bn (+4.1%) |
| Operating profit | ¥300bn | ¥400bn | +¥100bn (+33.3%) |
| Pretax profit | ¥317bn | ¥417bn | +¥100bn (+31.5%) |
| Net profit (parent) | ¥210bn | ¥289bn | +¥79bn (+37.6%) |
The revised forecast assumes an exchange rate of ¥157 to the dollar and ¥183 to the euro, both weaker than the rates Kubota had built into its February plan. Machinery, the tractor, engine and construction-equipment business that makes up 88.6% of group sales, drove most of the improvement: divisional revenue rose 18.1% to ¥1.497tn and segment profit rose 56.4% to ¥212.2bn, with North American construction demand and agricultural price increases doing the heavy lifting. The smaller Water & Environment segment grew revenue 3.7% to ¥186.2bn and profit 3.1% to ¥17.1bn.
Shareholders get two things out of this. The interim dividend rises to ¥26 a share from ¥25 last year, and Kubota says its full-year dividend forecast of ¥52 a share is unchanged from the figure already announced. Separately, on the same day, Kubota's board approved a buyback of up to 18mn shares, or 1.6% of shares outstanding excluding treasury stock, capped at ¥40bn and running from August 5 to December 18, 2026, through Tokyo Stock Exchange market purchases or off-auction ToSTNeT-3 trades. The company describes the buyback as part of its shareholder-return policy, aimed at lifting per-share value.
The upgrade rests on assumptions Kubota itself flags as unstable: the yen could strengthen back, and the US tariff-refund benefit is a feature of the current trade environment, not a fixture of it. The company's own risk language points to exchange rates, US trade policy and Middle East-driven input costs as the variables that could move the next set of numbers in either direction.