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Japanese media group combining the U-NEXT video-streaming service with USEN's background-music, broadband and related businesses.
Japanese media group combining the U-NEXT video-streaming service with USEN's background-music, broadband and related businesses.
U-NEXT earns monthly subscriptions plus pay-per-view and e-book purchases, while USEN sells subscriptions to stores for background music and business services, so one half is consumer and the other business, both recurring. Founder Yasuhide Uno leads the group.
In one line: A Japanese Netflix combined with a background-music/broadband provider.
Moat: narrow (installed base, distribution). Large subscriber base and decades-old USEN in-store music network create switching friction.
Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan · Founded: 2021
Size U-NEXT (9418.T) is a Japan Communication Services company (Specialty Telecommunications) with a market value of $2.04B, the 476th largest of 1,379 Japan companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at ¥1,782 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares gained 16.7%, against -9.4% for the median peer and +1.8% for the Japan market (cap-weighted) — 3rd highest of 21 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 20.4% over the last twelve months (peer median +4.5%); the operating margin is 6.5% (peer median 14.1%).
Valuation It trades at 17.6× forward earnings against a peer median of 32.8× (6th cheapest of 16).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about 0% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +18%, so the hurdle is -17 pp: the price already allows for a slowdown.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 5.8 points above its cost of capital (6.1% WACC).
Next results Next results expected around 14 Jan 2027 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2026 | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | ¥470B | ¥470B | ¥390B | ¥327B | ¥276B |
| Revenue growth | — | +20% | +19% | +18% | — |
| Gross profit | ¥140B | ¥140B | ¥129B | ¥117B | ¥96.5B |
| EBITDA | ¥46.1B | ¥46.1B | ¥44.0B | ¥39.3B | ¥31.3B |
| Net income | ¥15.0B | ¥15.0B | ¥18.4B | ¥15.4B | ¥11.0B |
| Free cash flow | n/a | ¥10.8B | ¥10.6B | ¥9.59B | ¥5.33B |
| Capital expenditure | n/a | ¥21.5B | ¥16.9B | ¥10.1B | ¥8.53B |
| Total debt | ¥97.8B | ¥97.8B | ¥69.0B | ¥63.0B | ¥64.1B |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U-NEXT 9418.T | $2.04B | +17% | +20% | 6% | 17.6× | 0.4% |
| Netflix NFLX | $260B | -28% | +15% | 32% | 17.7× | 15.0% |
| Amazon AMZN | $2.80T | -5% | +15% | 13% | 26.3× | n/a |
| Softbank 9434.T | $71.3B | +6% | +8% | 14% | 18.5× | 3.4% |
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 | 9418.T | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | +0.6% | +1.5% | 9th lowest of 21 |
| 6-month return | +16.7% | -9.4% | 3rd highest of 21 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -17.2% | -22.1% | 8th highest of 21 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +20.4% | +4.5% | 3rd highest of 21 |
| Operating margin | 6.5% | 14.1% | 8th lowest of 20 |
| Forward P/E | 17.6× | 32.8× | 6th cheapest of 16 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | 0.4% | 7.8% | 6th least demanding of 14 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +17.7% | +6.5% | 3rd highest of 14 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | -17.3 pp | -3.7 pp | least demanding of 14 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | +5.8 pp | +0.0 pp | 5th highest of 20 |
| EV / EBITDA | 8.1× | 9.7× | 4th cheapest of 15 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.8× | 1.2× | 5th least indebted of 15 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U-NEXT 9418.T | Japan | $2.04B | +17% | +20% | 6% | 17.6× | 0.4% | +17.7% |
| StarHub CC3.SI | Singapore | $1.41B | +4% | -8% | 5% | 48.0× | 7.2% | +3.0% |
| Helios Towers HTWS.L | United Kingdom | $3.05B | -8% | +6% | 36% | 30.1× | 13.4% | +15.0% |
| freenet FNTN.DE | Germany | $3.06B | -7% | +10% | 14% | 11.4× | -11.3% | -1.1% |
| CITIC Telecom International 1883.HK | Hong Kong | $1.14B | -14% | 0% | 12% | 9.2× | -10.5% | +1.4% |
| Guomai Technologies 002093.SZ | China | $1.08B | -14% | +3% | 24% | n/a | 11.7% | +6.5% |
| PLDT, Inc. Sponsored ADR PHI | United States | $3.88B | -11% | -2% | 22% | 8.7× | -2.9% | +0.8% |
| Guangzhou Frontop Digital Creative Technology 301313.SZ | China | $1.02B | +90% | +1% | -31% | 93.0× | n/a | n/a |
| Ituran Location and Control ITRN | United States | $987M | -18% | +16% | 22% | 12.9× | -3.4% | +7.9% |
| Aussie Broadband ABB.AX | Australia | $968M | -13% | +9% | 7% | 14.7× | 13.1% | +29.9% |
| Net263 002467.SZ | China | $939M | -33% | +14% | -29% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| cyber_Folks CBF.WA | Poland | $899M | +8% | +27% | n/a | 40.2× | n/a | n/a |
| Macquarie Technology MAQ.AX | Australia | $890M | -34% | +6% | 15% | 58.2× | n/a | n/a |
| Iridium Communications IRDM | United States | $4.68B | +6% | +4% | 19% | 64.8× | 21.0% | +8.4% |
| Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) TTML.NS | India | $824M | -11% | -1% | 44% | n/a | 22.7% | +2.1% |
| Chief Telecom 6561.TWO | Taiwan | $796M | +2% | -1% | 39% | 19.7× | -0.7% | +9.0% |
| 1&1 1U1.DE | Germany | $5.79B | +7% | +8% | 3% | 34.4× | 12.5% | +1.8% |
| Telesat TSAT.TO | Canada | $644M | -18% | -24% | -8% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| ASR Microelectronics 688220.SS | China | $6.56B | +6% | +28% | 1% | 170.1× | n/a | n/a |
| KINX 093320.KS | South Korea | $623M | +68% | +7% | 19% | 32.8× | 7.8% | +17.7% |
| Eastone Century Technology 300310.SZ | China | $575M | -24% | +3% | 0% | n/a | n/a | n/a |