Hitachi shares slide as Q2 profit drop overshadows strong top-line earnings

Hitachi Ltd (TYO:6501) shares plunged on Thursday, making the conglomerate the worst performer on Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index, after a drop in second-quarter profit overshadowed record revenue.

The stock fell 10.5% to ¥5,030, while the Nikkei 225 rose 1.2%.

Hitachi’s revenue rose 15% from a year earlier to a record ¥2.904 trillion, and the company raised its full-year guidance for the second time in fiscal 2026, lifting its net profit forecast to ¥920 billion from ¥900 billion, the company said in a disclosure on Wednesday evening. 

But net income attributable to shareholders slid to ¥227.1 billion from ¥280.6 billion, hit by a one-time cost overrun on a social infrastructure project in the Digital Systems & Services segment, which management indicated should not recur.

Hitachi raised its interim dividend to ¥32 per share from a prior forecast of ¥28, and its share buyback program remained on track, with 52% of the full-year ¥550 billion completed. These measures were not enough to offset the drop in bottom-line profit at a stock trading near a five-year high on valuation multiples.