FANUC Q1 Operating Profit Jumps 26% to ¥53.5 Billion as Sales Climb 18%; Lifts FY27 Guidance

FANUC CORPORATION (TSE: 6954), the Oshino-based supplier of CNC systems, industrial robots and factory-automation machinery, reported consolidated results for the first quarter of the year ending March 31, 2027 — the three months to June 30, 2026 — under Japanese GAAP. Net sales rose 17.7% to ¥231,035 million, operating profit climbed 26.1% to ¥53,492 million, ordinary profit advanced 32.3% to ¥68,193 million, and profit attributable to owners of the parent jumped 34.7% to ¥50,981 million. Basic earnings per share came in at ¥54.63, up from ¥40.56; the company reports no dilutive securities. Comprehensive income more than doubled, rising 132.0% to ¥81,043 million.

Management framed the quarter as one in which capital-investment demand held up broadly despite an unsettled backdrop, noting concerns over the effect of heightened geopolitical risk on the world economy. Every division — R&D, plants, sales, service and administration — was pushed on sales expansion, stable parts procurement and cost control.

Robots and Robomachine lead a broad-based advance

FANUC reports as a single business segment — all of its products are built around CNC and servo motors, and investment decisions are taken across the whole product range — so no divisional operating profit is disclosed. It does, however, break out sales by division, and all four grew by double digits.

The Robot division was the largest contributor at ¥96,103 million, up 18.7%. Domestic sales rose despite soft automotive demand, carried by steady general-industry orders; the Americas were solid in both automotive and general industry; and China was strong in EV-related and general-industry applications. FA, the CNC systems business, delivered ¥57,352 million, up 15.5%: machine-tool demand was weak in Europe, but Japan benefited from domestic machine-tool builders' strong export order books, and India plus a capex-hungry China ran hot. Robomachine grew fastest, at ¥41,654 million, up 22.8%, with Robodrill compact machining centres selling well in Japan and China, Roboshot electric injection-moulding machines solid in the Americas and strong in China, and Robocut wire-EDM lifted by Chinese demand. Service added ¥35,926 million, up 13.0%, as the company pushed IoT preventive-maintenance products including the FIELD system Basic Package, the AI Servo Monitor for machine-tool failure prediction and Zero Down Time for robots.

Margins widen as costs lag sales

Gross profit rose 18.9% to ¥91,094 million on cost of sales of ¥139,941 million, nudging the gross margin to 39.4% from 39.0%. Selling, general and administrative expenses grew only 10.0% to ¥37,602 million — well behind the 17.7% sales advance — which is what turned an 18.9% gross-profit gain into a 26.1% operating-profit gain. The operating margin widened to 23.2% from 21.6% a year earlier. Tax expense of ¥16,284 million implied an effective rate of 23.9%, and ¥928 million of quarterly profit went to non-controlling interests.

Why ordinary profit outran operating profit

Ordinary profit exceeded operating profit by ¥14,701 million, a gap that widened from ¥9,124 million a year earlier and explains why the ordinary line (+32.3%) grew faster than the operating line (+26.1%). Non-operating income totalled ¥15,278 million against just ¥577 million of non-operating expense. The single largest item was equity-method investment income of ¥11,371 million, up 70.0% from ¥6,688 million — FANUC's share of profits at affiliates it does not consolidate. Interest income contributed ¥2,249 million, up from ¥1,869 million, earned on a cash-and-deposits balance of ¥721,468 million plus ¥40,800 million of securities; dividends received added ¥374 million and miscellaneous income ¥1,284 million.

Currency did not flow through the profit and loss account as a non-operating gain this quarter; it appears instead in other comprehensive income, where a ¥8,524 million foreign-currency translation adjustment sat alongside a ¥14,128 million gain on available-for-sale securities and a ¥6,979 million equity-method share, lifting total OCI to ¥29,134 million and comprehensive income to ¥81,043 million.

Guidance raised across every line

Because trading ran ahead of the plan published on April 24, 2026, FANUC formally revised its FY3/2027 forecasts on the day. For the first half it now guides net sales of ¥466,000 million (+14.3% YoY), operating profit of ¥104,400 million (+21.4%), ordinary profit of ¥134,900 million (+25.0%) and net profit of ¥100,300 million (+25.7%), with EPS of ¥107.48 — increases of 4.9%, 4.0%, 5.9% and 8.9% respectively against the April numbers. For the full year the company guides net sales of ¥948,100 million (+10.5%), operating profit of ¥218,000 million (+18.6%), ordinary profit of ¥271,200 million (+19.2%) and net profit of ¥198,000 million (+18.9%), with EPS of ¥212.18 — raises of 4.2%, 2.7%, 5.5% and 7.1% on the April plan. The forecasts assume average rates of ¥150 to the dollar and ¥175 to the euro from July 2026 through March 2027. First-quarter operating profit already represents about 24.5% of the raised full-year target.

Balance sheet, dividend and depreciation

Total assets stood at ¥2,108,717 million, up ¥18,017 million from the March year-end, while total liabilities fell ¥8,878 million to ¥198,875 million and net assets rose ¥26,895 million to ¥1,909,842 million. The equity ratio, already among the highest in Japanese manufacturing, firmed to 89.7% from 89.2%. On the dividend, FANUC paid ¥107.09 per share for FY3/2026 (a ¥51.33 interim plus a ¥55.76 year-end). It has not yet forecast a FY3/2027 dividend, stating that it will disclose the interim and year-end payouts as soon as they can be announced. No quarterly consolidated cash flow statement was prepared; depreciation for the quarter was ¥11,182 million, against ¥11,077 million a year earlier. Shares issued totalled 982,272,430, including 49,114,481 held in treasury.

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.