Makuake, Inc. (TSE: 4479), which runs the "cheer-buying" (ouen-gai) marketplace Makuake, reported non-consolidated nine-month results for the fiscal year ending September 2026 under Japanese GAAP, covering October 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026. Revenue rose 31.1% to ¥4,392 million, operating profit more than doubled — up 101.0% to ¥844 million — ordinary profit rose 100.2% to ¥848 million, and net profit for the period climbed 77.3% to ¥683 million. Basic earnings per share came to ¥53.64, against ¥30.25 a year earlier; diluted EPS was ¥53.49.
Bigger projects, not simply more of them
Transaction value across all of Makuake's services, including the flagship marketplace, rose 31.1% to ¥17,014 million — exactly matching revenue growth, so the share of volume the company converts into revenue held broadly steady at around a quarter. The swing came from the mix of projects rather than a change in economics. Management says acquisition of high-quality project executors went well, particularly in the home-appliance and gadget genres, and that new-executor sourcing was widened from purely online tactics to offline genre-specific events and overseas events, lifting both the number and the quality of projects. Curators pushed harder on raising the value of each individual project, producing numerous large projects that reached several hundred million yen in cheer-buying volume. Stronger post-project debriefs — including proposals for the executor's next product — deepened repeat relationships, and wider take-up of the company's advertising-delivery agency service by executors chasing further growth added to the effect. Together those levers lifted average value per project sharply, and because Makuake's cost base is dominated by platform and personnel spend, most of the incremental volume dropped through: the nine-month operating margin widened to 19.2% from 12.5% a year earlier.
A service stack that now extends past the campaign
Makuake connects project executors — businesses launching products the world has not seen before — with supporters who buy in support of the maker's intent and backstory, under a vision of "a world where what should be born is born, what should spread spreads, and what should remain remains." Around that core sit several ancillary businesses: the advertising-delivery agency service that grows cheer-buying volume on the platform; a "peace-of-mind" system giving supporters a safe place to buy; Makuake STORE, which keeps a product selling on its original project page after its debut; Makuake STORE for EC malls, which handles listing, sales, promotion and logistics on Rakuten Ichiba, Yahoo! Shopping and TikTok Shop on executors' behalf; Makuake Insight, a research service for businesses built on consumer voice and data; and Makuake SHOP, which displays and sells Makuake-originated products in physical stores through partner companies across Japan.
A selective consumer, and a firmer business use case
The company frames the backdrop as a Japanese economy recovering moderately on better employment and income, but with continued price rises, shifting U.S. trade policy and changes in the Middle East leaving downside risks for households and businesses. Persistent thrift now coexists with what Makuake calls a polarisation of consumption: shoppers are being selective, favouring distinctive products with a story over uniform mass-market goods — the exact behaviour its marketplace is built to capture. On the supply side, with supply chains being rebuilt amid international change, demand from businesses for pre-mass-production test marketing and concrete demand forecasting has stayed firm, which supports the executor side of the platform independently of consumer sentiment.
Balance sheet strengthens; still no dividend
Total assets stood at ¥9,037 million at June 30, 2026, up from ¥7,449 million at the September 2025 year-end, while net assets rose to ¥6,100 million from ¥5,416 million. The equity ratio eased to 67.1% from 72.2% as assets — inflated by funds held on behalf of executors as volume grows — expanded faster than equity. Shares issued totalled 12,748,700. Makuake paid no dividend for FY9/2025 and forecasts none for FY9/2026, retaining earnings to fund growth.
Guidance untouched — and already surpassed
The company left its full-year forecast unchanged, and it is expressed as a range: revenue of ¥5,400 million (+18.0%), operating profit of ¥670–800 million (+49.8% to +78.9%), ordinary profit of ¥670–800 million (+41.0% to +68.3%), net profit of ¥590–700 million (+44.9% to +71.9%) and EPS of ¥46.28–¥54.91. Set against nine-month actuals, the plan looks conservative to the point of implying a fourth quarter close to break-even. Operating profit of ¥844 million for the nine months is already above the top of the ¥670–800 million full-year range, and ordinary profit of ¥848 million likewise clears the top of its own band. Nine-month net profit of ¥683 million sits inside the ¥590–700 million full-year range, leaving room for only ¥17 million of additional profit even at the upper bound. Absent an unusually costly final quarter, an upward revision looks the more likely path.
| Metric | 9M FY9/2026 | 9M FY9/2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (¥ million) | 4,392 | 3,349 | +31.1% |
| Operating profit (¥ million) | 844 | 420 | +101.0% |
| Ordinary profit (¥ million) | 848 | 423 | +100.2% |
| Net profit (¥ million) | 683 | 385 | +77.3% |
| Basic EPS (¥) | 53.64 | 30.25 | +77.3% |
| Diluted EPS (¥) | 53.49 | 30.18 | +77.2% |
| Transaction value (¥ million) | 17,014 | — | +31.1% |
| FY9/26 operating profit guidance (¥ million) | 670–800 | — | +49.8% to +78.9% |
JapanStockPulse provides informational content only and does not constitute investment advice. Figures are taken from the company's published earnings short report and may be subject to subsequent revision.