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Japan's largest dispensing-pharmacy operator, also runs drugstores, based in Hokkaido.
Japan's largest dispensing-pharmacy operator, also runs drugstores, based in Hokkaido.
Paid for most dispensing through Japan's national health insurance: the pharmacy collects a government-set dispensing fee plus the margin between the official drug price and its purchase price. The fee schedule is revised every two years, so policy sets income more than competition does. Locations next to clinics and hospitals bring the prescriptions.
In one line: A Japanese CVS Health (pharmacy-benefit-adjacent) equivalent.
Moat: narrow (scale, regulatory licence, distribution). Largest dispensing-pharmacy network in Japan, tied to hospital referral relationships nationwide.
Headquarters: Sapporo, Japan · Founded: 1990 · Employees: 17,332
Size Ain (9627.T) is a Japan Consumer Staples company (Drugstore Chains) with a market value of $1.23B, the 648th largest of 1,379 Japan companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at ¥5,510 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares fell 2.4%, against +1.0% for the median peer and +1.8% for the Japan market (cap-weighted) — 8th lowest of 19 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 42.3% over the last twelve months (peer median +6.9%); the operating margin is 4.4% (peer median 4.8%).
Valuation It trades at 13.4× forward earnings against a peer median of 16.8× (3rd cheapest of 12).
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 +17%, so the hurdle is -23 pp: the price already allows for a slowdown.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 2.7 points above its cost of capital (5.0% WACC).
Next results Next results expected around 27 Nov 2026 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | ¥692B | ¥648B | ¥457B | ¥400B | ¥359B |
| Revenue growth | — | +42% | +14% | +11% | — |
| Gross profit | ¥100B | ¥93.6B | ¥65.6B | ¥53.4B | ¥47.9B |
| EBITDA | ¥54.3B | ¥52.0B | ¥31.0B | ¥31.2B | ¥25.8B |
| Net income | ¥17.3B | ¥17.3B | ¥9.26B | ¥11.4B | ¥9.23B |
| Free cash flow | n/a | ¥21.0B | ¥15.2B | ¥13.9B | ¥10.7B |
| Capital expenditure | n/a | ¥17.2B | ¥12.2B | ¥12.5B | ¥12.2B |
| Total debt | ¥167B | ¥172B | ¥39.0B | ¥6.75B | ¥8.74B |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ain 9627.T | $1.23B | -2% | +42% | 4% | 13.4× | -6.5% |
| Sugi 7649.T | $3.27B | -23% | +9% | 5% | 16.8× | -9.7% |
| Sundrug 9989.T | $2.77B | -1% | +4% | 5% | 13.3× | -8.0% |
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 | 9627.T | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | +3.8% | +2.0% | 9th highest of 19 |
| 6-month return | -2.4% | +1.0% | 8th lowest of 19 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -24.3% | -24.3% | 10th highest of 19 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +42.3% | +6.9% | 2nd highest of 19 |
| Operating margin | 4.4% | 4.8% | 8th lowest of 19 |
| Forward P/E | 13.4× | 16.8× | 3rd cheapest of 12 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | -6.5% | -7.0% | 9th least demanding of 17 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +16.9% | +10.3% | 4th highest of 17 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | -23.4 pp | -16.7 pp | 3rd least demanding of 17 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | +2.7 pp | +6.8 pp | 9th lowest of 19 |
| EV / EBITDA | 5.6× | 7.3× | 2nd cheapest of 9 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.1× | -0.4× | most indebted of 10 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ain 9627.T | Japan | $1.23B | -2% | +42% | 4% | 13.4× | -6.5% | +16.9% |
| Yixintang Pharmaceutical 002727.SZ | China | $1.18B | +6% | -2% | 3% | 16.9× | -15.9% | +6.5% |
| Create SD 3148.T | Japan | $1.30B | -2% | +9% | 5% | n/a | -11.5% | +8.0% |
| LBX Pharmacy Chain Joint Stock 603883.SS | China | $1.69B | +7% | +3% | 5% | 16.3× | -10.9% | +9.7% |
| Shu Yu Civilian Pharmacy 301017.SZ | China | $872M | +9% | +9% | 2% | n/a | 4.0% | +17.4% |
| Anhui Huaren Health Pharmaceutical 301408.SZ | China | $829M | -35% | +15% | 8% | n/a | -6.0% | +23.3% |
| MedPlus Health Services MEDPLUS.NS | India | $769M | -31% | +21% | 4% | 35.1× | 18.5% | +17.6% |
| Genky DrugStores 9267.T | Japan | $723M | +3% | +8% | 5% | 13.7× | n/a | n/a |
| Beijing Konruns Pharmaceutical 603590.SS | China | $617M | -28% | +4% | 20% | 21.0× | 11.6% | +2.7% |
| Cawachi 2664.T | Japan | $577M | +37% | -1% | 2% | n/a | -5.8% | 0.0% |
| Qol 3034.T | Japan | $567M | +38% | +7% | 6% | 11.3× | -16.2% | +12.4% |
| Guardian Pharmacy Services GRDN | United States | $2.68B | +17% | +10% | 6% | 30.6× | 4.1% | +16.8% |
| Luyan Pharma 002788.SZ | China | $555M | -30% | +3% | 3% | n/a | 0.1% | +6.5% |
| Sundrug 9989.T | Japan | $2.77B | -1% | +4% | 5% | 13.3× | -8.0% | +5.8% |
| Sugi 7649.T | Japan | $3.27B | -23% | +9% | 5% | 16.8× | -9.7% | +10.9% |
| DaShenLin Pharmaceutical 603233.SS | China | $3.80B | +15% | +7% | 8% | 16.6× | -9.0% | +13.6% |
| Landfar Bio-medicine 000504.SZ | China | $395M | -16% | +497% | -2% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Shanghai No. 1 Pharmacy 600833.SS | China | $314M | -24% | +1% | -1% | n/a | 20.4% | +6.1% |
| Yifeng Pharmacy Chain 603939.SS | China | $4.91B | +17% | +5% | 10% | 17.2× | -9.2% | +13.2% |