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Global leader in automotive airbag inflators, also makes cellulose acetate (cigarette filter tow) and packaging films.
Global leader in automotive airbag inflators, also makes cellulose acetate (cigarette filter tow) and packaging films.
Inflators are sold to airbag system makers on multi-year programmes tied to specific car models, so volume follows global vehicle output and the number of airbags per car. Cellulose acetate, the filter tow in cigarettes, is a mature business with a handful of makers worldwide and tobacco companies as main buyers.
In one line: The world's top airbag-inflator maker, plus a specialty-cellulose business.
Moat: narrow (scale, process know-how, IP / patents). World-leading airbag-inflator manufacturing scale and safety-critical process qualification.
Headquarters: Osaka, Japan · Founded: 1919 · Employees: 11,034
Size Daicel (4202.T) is a Japan Materials company (Chemicals: Specialty) with a market value of $2.48B, the 416th largest of 1,379 Japan companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at ¥1,532 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares gained 24.3%, against -12.2% for the median peer and +1.8% for the Japan market (cap-weighted) — 2nd highest of 21 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 2.2% over the last twelve months (peer median +8.3%); the operating margin is 7.3% (peer median 9.8%).
Valuation It trades at 11.1× forward earnings against a peer median of 16.9× (cheapest of 18).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about 6% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +8%, so the hurdle is -2 pp: the price already allows for a slowdown.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 1.5 points below its cost of capital (6.2% WACC).
Next results Next results expected around 3 Feb 2027 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | ¥593B | ¥580B | ¥587B | ¥558B | ¥538B |
| Revenue growth | — | -1% | +5% | +4% | — |
| Gross profit | ¥148B | ¥147B | ¥166B | ¥160B | ¥147B |
| EBITDA | ¥87.3B | ¥85.4B | ¥102B | ¥96.1B | ¥79.1B |
| Net income | ¥9.92B | ¥10.2B | ¥49.5B | ¥55.8B | ¥40.7B |
| Free cash flow | n/a | ¥2.51B | ¥23.4B | ¥11.1B | -¥20.5B |
| Capital expenditure | n/a | ¥68.0B | ¥72.3B | ¥69.2B | ¥51.9B |
| Total debt | ¥311B | ¥312B | ¥286B | ¥304B | ¥322B |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daicel 4202.T | $2.48B | +24% | +2% | 7% | 11.1× | 6.1% |
| Autoliv ALV | $8.89B | +2% | +4% | 10% | 11.0× | 2.6% |
| Eastman Chemical EMN | $7.37B | -13% | 0% | 10% | 10.2× | 5.1% |
| Nippon Kayaku 4272.T | $1.66B | +3% | +14% | 10% | 10.1× | -4.8% |
| Celanese CE | $5.10B | -19% | +1% | 9% | 7.6× | 5.3% |
| Ningbo Joyson Electronic 600699.SS | $4.44B | -27% | -6% | 5% | 21.9× | -1.1% |
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 | 4202.T | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | +5.3% | -6.8% | highest of 21 |
| 6-month return | +24.3% | -12.2% | 2nd highest of 21 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -7.6% | -34.8% | highest of 21 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +2.2% | +8.3% | 5th lowest of 21 |
| Operating margin | 7.3% | 9.8% | 6th lowest of 20 |
| Forward P/E | 11.1× | 16.9× | cheapest of 18 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | 6.1% | 10.3% | 6th least demanding of 12 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +8.1% | +7.0% | 6th highest of 12 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | -2.0 pp | +5.7 pp | 5th least demanding of 12 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | -1.5 pp | -0.6 pp | 9th lowest of 19 |
| EV / EBITDA | 7.4× | 11.7× | 4th cheapest of 8 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.7× | 0.9× | most indebted of 8 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daicel 4202.T | Japan | $2.48B | +24% | +2% | 7% | 11.1× | 6.1% | +8.1% |
| Bloomage Biotechnology 688363.SS | China | $2.49B | -16% | -22% | 5% | 55.6× | 20.8% | +9.8% |
| Shandong Dongyue Silicone Material 300821.SZ | China | $2.43B | -11% | +13% | 13% | n/a | 20.7% | +8.6% |
| Shanghai Huayi 600623.SS | China | $2.41B | -24% | +5% | n/a | 14.8× | -11.1% | +10.3% |
| Kemira KEMIRA.HE | Finland | $2.55B | -8% | -3% | 8% | 16.0× | 3.9% | +2.6% |
| Hubei Zhenhua Chemical 603067.SS | China | $2.56B | -35% | +31% | 11% | 23.6× | n/a | n/a |
| Quaker Houghton KWR | United States | $2.58B | +2% | +9% | 9% | 16.9× | 16.3% | +5.9% |
| China Petroleum Engineering 600339.SS | China | $2.60B | -24% | +8% | 1% | 26.7× | n/a | n/a |
| Nifco 7988.T | Japan | $2.62B | +6% | +4% | 14% | 11.7× | -3.5% | +6.6% |
| Guizhou Chanhen Chemical 002895.SZ | China | $2.64B | -20% | +15% | 18% | 12.9× | 2.4% | +36.1% |
| Kaneka 4118.T | Japan | $2.30B | +23% | +4% | 5% | 11.6× | 4.9% | +7.0% |
| K+s SDF.DE | Germany | $2.68B | -13% | +6% | 34% | 11.7× | n/a | n/a |
| Sinochem International 600500.SS | China | $2.27B | -7% | -5% | -1% | n/a | 11.9% | -2.7% |
| Tinergy Chemical 002145.SZ | China | $2.23B | -15% | +17% | 9% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Deepak Nitrite DEEPAKNTR.NS | India | $2.22B | -17% | +25% | 14% | 16.5× | n/a | n/a |
| PI Industries PIIND.NS | India | $2.79B | -44% | -15% | 13% | 22.7× | n/a | n/a |
| Epoxy Base Electronic Material 603002.SS | China | $2.19B | -7% | +73% | 7% | 71.6× | n/a | n/a |
| Shanghai Bairun Investment 002568.SZ | China | $2.82B | -8% | +8% | 28% | 24.2× | 14.5% | +8.8% |
| Rogers ROG | United States | $2.17B | -13% | +7% | 10% | 26.2× | 10.3% | +0.2% |
| Zhejiang Yonghe Refrigerant 605020.SS | China | $2.17B | +5% | +25% | 18% | 13.3× | n/a | n/a |
| Qingdao Gon Technology 002768.SZ | China | $2.83B | +48% | +15% | 7% | 17.7× | n/a | n/a |