Obermatt

Kao

TYO:4452 · JP3205800000
Personal ProductsX-Large

360

60
EV / EBIT29
Price / Owner Earnings37
Owner Earnings Yield57
Dividend Yield73
Price/Sales43
EV / Gross Profit40
Price/Book33
Return on Capital49
Cash Return on Capital53
Return on Equity44
EBIT Margin41
Gross Profitability35
Cash Conversion84
Accruals56
Owner Earnings Margin36
Sales growth34
Profit Growth49
Long-Term EPS Growth61
Owner Earnings Growth36
Reinvestment27
Price momentum31
Debt load54
Refinancing33
Debt Payback100
Liquidity78
Analyst ratings41
Opinion Changes43
Price Target Upside50
Market mood75
Value Creation12/20creating some value
  • Creates more value than its capital costs
  • Owner earnings growing
  • Owner earnings per share growing
  • Reinvests at strong returns
  • Solid earnings base

What this means

Kao clears its cost of capital, but the record is mixed across the five tests. Real value creation, just not yet consistent.

Profile

CountryJapan
IndustryPersonal Products
SizeX-Large
TypePublic Company
ExchangeTSE
Founded1940
Employees2,489
Websitekao.com
ISINJP3205800000
Last UpdateApr 2, 2026
Themes
Environment, Health and Safety (EH&S)Green Consumer GoodsLifestyleFast-Moving Consumer GoodsBeautyChemicalConsumer GoodsHealth CareManufacturingRetail

Description

Kao Corporation engages in the manufacture, marketing, and sale of consumer products and chemical products worldwide. Segments The company’s operations consist of Consumer Products Business and Chemical Business. The Consumer Products Business has…

Analysis

Middle-of-the-road

Kao Corporation sits in the middle of our grid: average quality, average price, no obvious signal in either direction.

On valuation, the picture is fair. The owner-earnings multiple stands at 20.8×; owner earnings: the cash an owner could take out each year. The implied growth embedded in that price is around 7% a year, against analyst forecasts of 7%. The price, in other words, assumes less than the experts do.

Growth is moderate; the safety picture is adequate. The company scores 12/20 on our value-creation score: creating some value.

No flags apply to this company at this time: accounts, balance sheet, and cash quality all pass. A clean bill of health is meaningful, not just the absence of a warning. This analysis describes numbers; it is not investment advice.

360° rank · history

1007550250
30
2023202420252026

All-time high

48

Sep 2025

All-time low

15

Jan 2023

Average rank

30

across all years

Detailed & Historical Ranks

Deep dive into 15 detailed ranks and 3 years of history.

Current202520242023
Price/Sales
43
30
41
50
Price/Earnings
42
22
22
48
Price/Book
33
7
24
43
Dividend Yield
73
46
54
61
Value (overall)
40
11
28
53

Cells are coloured by rank band (red weak → green strong). Sentiment & 360° history begins 2023.

Similar Stocks

The companies this stock is ranked against.

Compare Kao with its peers
NOF
TYO:4403
96
CountryJapan
IndustryChemicals
SizeLarge
Full Stock Analysis →
Noevir Holdings
TYO:4928
73
CountryJapan
IndustryPersonal Products
SizeMedium
Full Stock Analysis →
Aekyung Chemical
KSC:161000
5
CountrySouth Korea
IndustryChemicals
SizeSmall
Full Stock Analysis →
Rohto Pharmaceutical
TYO:4527
81
CountryJapan
IndustryPersonal Products
SizeLarge
Full Stock Analysis →
AMOREPACIFIC
KSC:002790
98
CountrySouth Korea
IndustryPersonal Products
SizeMedium
Full Stock Analysis →
Belite Bio
NAQ:BLTE
49
CountryTaiwan
IndustryPharmaceuticals
SizeSmall
Full Stock Analysis →

Make Sense of the Ranks

Every rank runs 1–100 against true peers. Higher is always better.

360° View
1 · Watch OutGood· 100
Value
1 · ExpensiveGood Value· 100
Quality
1 · Weak FundamentalsHigh Quality· 100
Growth
1 · Tough TimesHigh Growth· 100
Safety
1 · High LeverageWell-Financed· 100
Sentiment
1 · SkepticismPositive· 100
Learn More →