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World's largest maker of printing inks; also makes pigments, resins and specialty chemicals.
World's largest maker of printing inks; also makes pigments, resins and specialty chemicals.
Sells inks, pigments and resins to packaging printers, publishers and electronics makers, so ink demand follows printed packaging volumes. Sun Chemical, its US-based unit, carries much of the ink and pigment business, and the purchase of BASF's pigments arm widened its colour materials.
In one line: The world's largest ink maker, no direct US-listed peer.
Moat: narrow (scale, brand, distribution). World's largest ink maker by volume gives purchasing scale and global distribution reach.
Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan · Founded: 1908 · Employees: 20,884
Size DIC (4631.T) is a Japan Materials company (Industrial Specialties) with a market value of $2.68B, the 396th largest of 1,379 Japan companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at ¥4,465 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares gained 24.6%, against -1.2% for the median peer and +1.8% for the Japan market (cap-weighted) — 5th highest of 20 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 6.3% over the last twelve months (peer median +13.0%); the operating margin is 6.9% (peer median 13.5%).
Valuation It trades at 9.3× forward earnings against a peer median of 31.9× (3rd cheapest of 16).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about -1% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +8%, so the hurdle is -9 pp: the price already allows for a slowdown.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 0.2 points below its cost of capital (6.0% WACC).
Next results Next results expected around 12 Nov 2026 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | ¥1.12T | ¥1.05T | ¥1.07T | ¥1.04T | ¥1.05T |
| Revenue growth | — | -2% | +3% | -1% | — |
| Gross profit | ¥256B | ¥228B | ¥222B | ¥186B | ¥199B |
| EBITDA | ¥133B | ¥107B | ¥98.5B | ¥71.0B | ¥88.5B |
| Net income | ¥56.4B | ¥32.4B | ¥21.3B | -¥39.9B | ¥17.6B |
| Free cash flow | n/a | ¥31.3B | ¥3.42B | ¥37.0B | -¥32.9B |
| Capital expenditure | n/a | ¥42.0B | ¥47.1B | ¥58.1B | ¥45.4B |
| Total debt | ¥434B | ¥458B | ¥484B | ¥529B | ¥509B |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DIC 4631.T | $2.68B | +25% | +6% | 7% | 9.3× | -1.0% |
| artience 4634.T | $1.25B | +18% | +7% | 6% | 9.3× | -3.9% |
| Clariant CLN.SW | $4.32B | +46% | -7% | 10% | 16.0× | -3.4% |
| Sakata Inx 4633.T | $732M | +8% | +9% | 6% | 10.7× | -4.0% |
| Lanxess LXS.DE | $1.27B | -30% | -10% | -1% | n/a | 17.9% |
| Sudarshan Chemical Industries SUDARSCHEM.NS | $893M | +10% | +90% | 4% | 28.9× | 27.0% |
| Basf BAS.DE | $52.6B | +2% | -4% | 7% | 16.8× | 5.7% |
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 | 4631.T | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | -11.1% | -15.1% | 10th highest of 21 |
| 6-month return | +24.6% | -1.2% | 5th highest of 20 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -24.0% | -41.1% | 5th highest of 21 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +6.3% | +13.0% | 8th lowest of 21 |
| Operating margin | 6.9% | 13.5% | 5th lowest of 21 |
| Forward P/E | 9.3× | 31.9× | 3rd cheapest of 16 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | -1.0% | 21.7% | 2nd least demanding of 14 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +8.5% | +12.0% | 4th lowest of 14 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | -9.5 pp | +2.3 pp | 2nd least demanding of 14 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | -0.2 pp | +0.3 pp | 9th lowest of 21 |
| EV / EBITDA | 6.0× | 24.9× | 2nd cheapest of 11 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.7× | 0.3× | 3rd most indebted of 11 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DIC 4631.T | Japan | $2.68B | +25% | +6% | 7% | 9.3× | -1.0% | +8.5% |
| H.B. Fuller FUL | United States | $2.68B | -19% | +1% | 11% | 9.5× | 3.5% | +4.5% |
| GCL Technology 3800.HK | Hong Kong | $2.71B | -30% | +25% | -22% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Shenzhen Leading Semiconductor Industry 603991.SS | China | $2.60B | +12% | +996% | 10% | n/a | 21.7% | +12.0% |
| Jiangsu Pacific Quartz 603688.SS | China | $2.78B | -38% | +15% | 10% | 82.1× | n/a | n/a |
| Xizang Gaozheng Civil Explosives 002827.SZ | China | $2.53B | +92% | -1% | 12% | 108.9× | n/a | n/a |
| Flat Glass 6865.HK | Hong Kong | $2.87B | -40% | -20% | -2% | n/a | 11.2% | +19.1% |
| Shaanxi Huaqin Technology Industry 688281.SS | China | $2.50B | -18% | +31% | 15% | 34.7× | 27.5% | +24.7% |
| Quanzhou Jiadeli Electronic Materials 603435.SS | China | $2.49B | n/a | +4% | 38% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Sichuan Yahua Industrial 002497.SZ | China | $2.48B | -56% | +69% | 18% | 6.2× | n/a | n/a |
| WD-40 WDFC | United States | $2.97B | +6% | +11% | 16% | 33.9× | 2.2% | +7.1% |
| Pamica Technology 001359.SZ | China | $2.41B | -1% | +23% | 23% | 36.2× | 38.0% | +12.1% |
| Himadri Speciality Chemical HSCL.NS | India | $3.04B | -8% | +25% | 20% | 31.9× | n/a | n/a |
| Kinik 1560.TW | Taiwan | $3.04B | +17% | +19% | 19% | 35.7× | 34.8% | +9.6% |
| UFP Technologies UFPT | United States | $2.35B | +32% | +9% | 15% | 28.3× | 17.8% | +27.4% |
| Zeon 4205.T | Japan | $2.34B | +6% | +4% | 11% | 9.1× | -1.5% | +6.4% |
| SKSHU Paint 603737.SS | China | $3.14B | -33% | 0% | 4% | 29.5× | 27.7% | +8.9% |
| Henan Huanghe Whirlwind 600172.SS | China | $2.27B | +29% | +13% | -30% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Grindwell Norton GRINDWELL.NS | India | $2.25B | +16% | +14% | 16% | 39.5× | 37.8% | +13.4% |
| Jiangsu Shemar Electric 603530.SS | China | $2.23B | -44% | +17% | 29% | 26.2× | 23.4% | +21.1% |
| Kansai Paint 4613.T | Japan | $3.23B | +29% | +3% | 8% | 19.1× | 2.3% | +10.1% |