OAT Agrio Co., Ltd. (4979) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: ¥30.00B
• Dividend Yield: 3.82%
• Average Volume (3M): 32.11K
• Price to Earnings (P/E): 9.4
• Beta (1Y): 0.69
• Revenue Growth: 8.02%
• EPS Growth: 42.17%
• Country: JP
• Employees: 601
• Sector: Basic Materials
• Sector Strength: 58
• Industry: Agricultural Inputs
• EPS (TTM): 38.25
• Shares Outstanding: 11,072,000
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 42,160
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 32,113
• PEG Ratio: 0.66
• Price to Book (P/B): 1.16
• Price to Sales (P/S): 0.68
• P/FCF Ratio: 4.83
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: N/A
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: N/A
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: N/A
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: N/A
• 1Y Price Target: N/A
• Price Target Upside: N/A
• Rating Consensus: N/A
• Number of Analyst Covering: 0
• EPS Forecast (FY): 316
• Revenue Forecast (FY): ¥17.50B

• Rating: 78 Outperform
• Price Target: ¥3,306.00 ▲(46.67% Upside)
• Action: Reiterated Date: 03/13/26
• Date: Action: Reiterated 03/13/26

The score is driven primarily by solid financial performance (steady growth and strong recent cash-flow improvement) and attractive valuation (low P/E with a dividend). Technicals are supportive due to a strong uptrend, but overbought signals temper the overall rating.

Positive Factors

Improving cash generation

Material and persistent improvement in operating and free cash flow over 2024–2025 strengthens funding for R&D, registrations and capital expenditure. Higher cash conversion supports dividends, deleveraging and strategic investment, improving resilience across crop cycles and regulatory timelines.

Deleveraging and stronger equity base

Substantially lower net debt and a firmer equity base reduce financial risk and increase capital flexibility. This improved balance-sheet capacity enables sustained investment in registrations, geographic expansion or bolt-on M&A while mitigating funding stress during poor seasonal years.

Steady revenue growth with solid margins

Consistent top-line growth alongside healthy gross and operating margins indicates durable product demand and pricing power in core crop-protection segments. Sustainable margins support reinvestment into product development and distribution, underpinning long-term competitiveness.

Negative Factors

Margin variability and weak operating leverage

Fluctuating margins and limited operating-profit expansion despite higher revenue point to cost or pricing pressures and constrained fixed-cost scalability. This raises uncertainty around sustainable profitability and the firm's ability to convert revenue gains into durable margin expansion.

Earlier cash-flow volatility and limited 2025 coverage ratios

Historic OCF weakness (notably 2022–2023) and missing coverage metrics for 2025 make it harder to confirm the durability of the recent cash-flow step-up. If the improvement is cyclical, funding for capex, registrations or payouts could prove less reliable over future seasons.

Exposure to regulatory, weather and crop-cycle risks

Business results depend on agricultural cycles, pest/disease incidence and regulatory approvals for active ingredients. These structural external factors can create persistent revenue volatility, delay product launches, or force reformulations, complicating long-term planning and returns.

OAT Agrio Co., Ltd. Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

OAT Agrio Co., Ltd. researches, develops, manufactures, and sells agrochemicals and fertilizers in Japan. The company offers plant protection products and biostimulants. It is also involved in the drug discovery, biological evaluation, formulation development, and pesticide registration activities. The company was formerly known as Otsuka Chemical Co., Ltd. and changed its name to OAT Agrio Co., Ltd. in 2014. OAT Agrio Co., Ltd. was founded in 1950 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

How the Company Makes Money

OAT Agrio makes money primarily by selling agricultural inputs—most notably crop protection chemicals—into domestic (Japan) and overseas markets. Its core revenue stream is product sales of agrochemicals (e.g., fungicides and other plant-protection formulations) that are purchased by growers and agricultural distributors for use in commercial crop production. Revenue is generated when products are sold through distribution channels (such as agricultural material wholesalers/retailers) and, where applicable, through overseas sales networks; pricing and volume are influenced by crop planting trends, disease/pest incidence, weather, and regulatory approvals for specific active ingredients and formulations. Additional earnings can come from associated agricultural products/services tied to cultivation support and from international expansion where the company registers and sells its products in multiple geographies. Specific details such as segment-by-segment revenue breakdowns, named major partners, or the exact contribution of licensing/royalties are not available here and are therefore null.

OAT Agrio Co., Ltd. Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Steady revenue growth through 2025 with solid profitability (healthy gross/operating/net margins in 2024) and a strong recent improvement in operating and free cash flow in 2024–2025. Offsetting factors include year-to-year margin variability and earlier cash-flow volatility.

Income Statement

Revenue has grown steadily from 2020 to 2025 (including a strong rebound after the 2020 decline), with 2025 annual revenue up to 31.95B. Profitability is solid: gross profit has expanded alongside sales, and 2024 margins were healthy (gross margin ~48.5%, operating margin ~10.5%, net margin ~7.0%). The key weakness is some profit variability: 2023 showed stronger margins than 2024, and 2025 net income increased but operating profit did not expand meaningfully versus 2024, implying modest margin pressure and less consistent operating leverage.

Balance Sheet

The balance sheet is improving, with debt trending down from 2020–2025 (15.23B to 9.17B) while equity has risen strongly (6.88B to 18.81B), reducing leverage and strengthening the capital base. Asset growth is also steady. A remaining watch item is that leverage was meaningfully higher earlier in the period (e.g., debt-to-equity above 1x in 2020–2022), and 2025 leverage/return ratios are not provided, limiting visibility into the most recent year’s capital efficiency.

Cash Flow

Cash generation strengthened materially in the last two years: operating cash flow rose from 1.79B (2023) to 3.76B (2024) and 4.90B (2025), and free cash flow increased to 3.28B (2024) and 4.51B (2025). Free cash flow has generally tracked earnings well (free cash flow was ~71%–89% of net income in 2020–2024), supporting earnings quality. The main weakness is volatility earlier in the period (notably weak 2022–2023 operating cash flow) and the absence of coverage/quality ratios for 2025, which would help confirm sustainability of the step-up.

Breakdown	TTM	Dec 2025	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021
Income Statement
Total Revenue	31.28B	31.95B	29.77B	28.99B	26.96B	22.66B
Gross Profit	15.17B	15.37B	14.44B	13.95B	12.66B	10.69B
EBITDA	5.30B	5.37B	4.97B	5.67B	5.04B	3.86B
Net Income	2.28B	2.33B	2.08B	2.49B	2.26B	1.46B
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	37.04B	37.31B	34.66B	34.00B	31.01B	28.35B
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	5.62B	5.38B	4.94B	4.06B	3.61B	3.65B
Total Debt	11.32B	9.17B	11.39B	12.65B	12.13B	12.49B
Total Liabilities	18.88B	17.35B	17.56B	19.13B	19.06B	19.25B
Stockholders Equity	17.03B	18.81B	15.95B	13.89B	11.03B	8.27B
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	0.00	4.51B	3.28B	1.27B	1.01B	3.20B
Operating Cash Flow	0.00	4.90B	3.76B	1.79B	1.42B	3.60B
Investing Cash Flow	0.00	-1.25B	-555.00M	-585.00M	-569.00M	221.00M
Financing Cash Flow	0.00	-3.33B	-2.48B	-1.05B	-1.03B	-3.94B

OAT Agrio Co., Ltd. Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Positive
• Last Price: 2254.00
• 50DMA: Positive
• 100DMA: Positive
• 200DMA: Positive
• MACD: Negative
• RSI: Neutral
• STOCH: Neutral

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For JP:4979, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 2254 is below the 20-day moving average (MA) of 2545.70, below the 50-day MA of 2328.14, and above the 200-day MA of 2244.54, indicating a bullish trend. The MACD of 168.76 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 61.33 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 53.22 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for JP:4979.

OAT Agrio Co., Ltd. Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
4992	82 Outperform	¥43.09B	9.57	―	2.86%	4.66%	19.39%
4979	78 Outperform	¥30.00B	9.37	―	3.82%	8.02%	42.17%
4997	69 Neutral	¥79.28B	32.13	―	2.35%	6.95%	8.85%
4996	65 Neutral	¥97.20B	5.37	―	3.41%	5.84%	-67.78%
4998	64 Neutral	¥19.12B	-6.48	―	1.93%	3.25%	67.44%
4968	62 Neutral	¥26.13B	9.97	―	4.27%	5.72%	28.92%
Sector *	61 Neutral	$10.43B	7.12	-0.05%	2.87%	2.86%	-36.73%