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World's largest soy sauce maker, also distributes wine, spirits and specialty foods internationally.
World's largest soy sauce maker, also distributes wine, spirits and specialty foods internationally.
Earns most of its sales outside Japan, where it has built plants in the US, Europe and Asia and sells through grocers and restaurants. Its first US plant opened in Wisconsin in 1973, and North America is its anchor market. At home it sells soy sauce alongside other sauces and distributed drinks.
In one line: A global condiment brand like French's/Heinz, but Japanese.
Moat: narrow (brand, scale, distribution). Dominant global soy sauce brand with decades of overseas manufacturing investment, though a mature, low-growth category.
Headquarters: Noda, Japan · Founded: 1917 · Employees: 7,911
Size Kikkoman (2801.T) is a Japan Consumer Staples company (Food: Specialty/Candy) with a market value of $10.9B, the 131st largest of 1,379 Japan companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at ¥1,776 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares gained 24.5%, against +0.5% for the median peer and +1.8% for the Japan market (cap-weighted) — 3rd highest of 21 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 9.3% over the last twelve months (peer median +5.9%); the operating margin is 11.0% (peer median 11.1%).
Valuation It trades at 24.8× forward earnings against a peer median of 17.6× (7th most expensive of 21).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about 9% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +11%, so the hurdle is -2 pp: the price already allows for a slowdown.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 4.2 points above its cost of capital (6.4% WACC).
Next results Next results expected around 9 Nov 2026 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | ¥772B | ¥746B | ¥709B | ¥661B | ¥619B |
| Revenue growth | — | +5% | +7% | +7% | — |
| Gross profit | ¥264B | ¥241B | ¥228B | ¥219B | ¥196B |
| EBITDA | ¥113B | ¥106B | ¥104B | ¥97.4B | ¥81.0B |
| Net income | ¥65.3B | ¥61.6B | ¥61.7B | ¥56.4B | ¥43.7B |
| Free cash flow | n/a | ¥37.6B | ¥35.7B | ¥51.1B | ¥33.6B |
| Capital expenditure | n/a | ¥59.6B | ¥40.7B | ¥31.1B | ¥26.5B |
| Total debt | ¥61.6B | ¥61.4B | ¥59.0B | ¥59.9B | ¥51.0B |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kikkoman 2801.T | $10.9B | +24% | +9% | 11% | 24.8× | 8.8% |
| McCormick & MKC | $13.0B | 0% | +13% | 17% | 15.9× | 3.2% |
| Foshan Haitian Flavouring and Food 603288.SS | $29.8B | -7% | +6% | 27% | 28.9× | 7.6% |
| Ajinomoto 2802.T | $25.3B | -16% | +7% | 11% | 29.4× | 19.2% |
| Kewpie 2809.T | $4.07B | +11% | +4% | 7% | 24.2× | 0.6% |
| House Foods 2810.T | $2.58B | +49% | 0% | 6% | 27.2× | 5.0% |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | 2801.T | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | +4.3% | +5.4% | 10th lowest of 21 |
| 6-month return | +24.5% | +0.5% | 3rd highest of 21 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -9.1% | -18.2% | 6th highest of 21 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +9.3% | +5.9% | 8th highest of 21 |
| Operating margin | 11.0% | 11.1% | 11th highest of 21 |
| Forward P/E | 24.8× | 17.6× | 7th most expensive of 21 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | 8.8% | 3.2% | 6th most demanding of 18 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +11.2% | +8.1% | 6th highest of 18 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | -2.3 pp | -8.5 pp | 6th most demanding of 18 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | +4.2 pp | +3.2 pp | 8th highest of 21 |
| EV / EBITDA | 15.0× | 11.4× | 7th most expensive of 20 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | -0.3× | 1.1× | 3rd least indebted of 20 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kikkoman 2801.T | Japan | $10.9B | +24% | +9% | 11% | 24.8× | 8.8% | +11.2% |
| Orkla ORK.OL | Norway | $10.8B | -6% | 0% | 10% | 15.5× | -1.1% | +8.7% |
| Tata Consumer Products TATACONSUM.NS | India | $11.4B | -6% | +15% | 11% | 55.5× | 42.8% | +11.8% |
| Britannia Industries BRITANNIA.NS | India | $12.1B | -18% | +7% | 17% | 41.7× | 28.9% | +7.8% |
| McCormick & MKC | United States | $13.0B | 0% | +13% | 17% | 15.9× | 3.2% | +4.1% |
| J.M. Smucker Company (The) SJM | United States | $13.9B | +33% | +5% | 19% | 12.9× | -7.1% | +2.5% |
| Barry Callebaut BARN.SW | Switzerland | $8.33B | +5% | +9% | 5% | 23.7× | -8.4% | +16.5% |
| Darling Ingredients DAR | United States | $7.92B | -20% | +16% | 9% | 7.3× | 9.0% | +11.4% |
| Lamb Weston LW | United States | $7.61B | +31% | +3% | 10% | 16.6× | 4.0% | +12.5% |
| Meiji 2269.T | Japan | $7.35B | +14% | +4% | 8% | 17.2× | n/a | n/a |
| Campbell's CPB | United States | $6.90B | +11% | -5% | 11% | 13.7× | -3.6% | +2.8% |
| Toyo Suisan Kaisha 2875.T | Japan | $6.74B | -4% | +7% | 17% | 14.5× | -5.0% | +9.5% |
| Ingredion INGR | United States | $5.78B | -15% | -1% | 12% | 9.7× | -7.8% | +3.8% |
| Nissin Foods 2897.T | Japan | $5.73B | +9% | +5% | 6% | 17.9× | n/a | n/a |
| Balchem BCPC | United States | $5.54B | +8% | +9% | 22% | 30.9× | 14.5% | +8.1% |
| Yamazaki Baking 2212.T | Japan | $5.08B | +21% | +5% | 5% | 18.0× | -3.3% | +5.3% |
| Sensient Technologies SXT | United States | $5.07B | +1% | +10% | 15% | 25.0× | n/a | n/a |
| Angel Yeast 600298.SS | China | $4.97B | +2% | +15% | 11% | 19.1× | 4.1% | +13.4% |
| Aak AAK.ST | Sweden | $4.88B | -30% | -1% | 10% | 13.6× | -6.0% | +10.5% |
| Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Spruengli LISN.SW | Switzerland | $24.6B | -8% | +4% | 16% | 28.2× | 3.4% | +8.1% |
| Ajinomoto 2802.T | Japan | $25.3B | -16% | +7% | 11% | 29.4× | 19.2% | +8.1% |