6988 · Nitto Denko

Will it survive?

• Can it pay its interest? 144.9×
  Comfortable
  Operating income ¥183.6B ÷ interest expense ¥1.3B
  What this means

  Operating profit covers interest with the kind of margin Graham wanted for a defensive holding. Necessary, not sufficient, it says solvent, not cheap.

• How heavy is the debt, net of cash? +¥333.8B
  Net cash
  Cash ¥359.8B − debt ¥26.0B
  What this means

  Cash and short-term investments exceed every dollar of debt by ¥333.8B, on net the company owes nothing, and can act from strength when others can't. Net debt is the leverage figure that matters: the cash is already set against the debt. Strategic or illiquid investments aren't counted here.

• How long is cash tied up? —
  Not enough data
  What this means

  The filing data didn't include the inputs for this check.

Is it a good business?

• Return on invested capital 18%
  High through the cycle
  3-yr median, range 6%–25%; 18% latest = NOPAT ¥145.1B ÷ invested capital ¥814.3B
  Industry peers: median 8%
  What this means

  The rate the business earns on the money tied up in it, Buffett's north star, because over time a stock tracks the ROIC beneath it. Above ~15% sustained hints at a moat; a return below the cost of capital (~8%) erodes value as a business grows rather than building it — the test Buffett weighs most. The headline is the median of the last 3 years (it ran 18% most recently), so one peak or trough year doesn't set the verdict. Asset-light businesses (R&D expensed, little capital) read artificially high, pair this with Owner Earnings.

• Owner-earnings margin 10%
  Solid through the cycle
  9-yr median margin, range 7%–15%; latest ¥121.5B = operating cash ¥192.2B − maintenance capex ¥70.7B
  Industry peers: median 7%
  What this means

  What an owner could take out without starving the business: operating cash less the maintenance capital it must spend to hold its position — Buffett's owner earnings. That's 12% of revenue this year, a 10% median across 9 years. It chose to put ¥25.9B more into growth, so free cash flow this year was ¥95.6B — the gap is investment, not weakness.

• Are earnings backed by cash? 1.44×
  Cash-backed
  Cash from ops ¥192.2B ÷ net income ¥133.5B
  What this means

  How much of reported profit showed up as operating cash. Above 1× is reassuring; well below suggests earnings lean on accruals. One year is noisy, growth and working-capital swings distort it, and this is operating cash, not free cash. Watch the multi-year trend.

How is the cash used?

• Where do the earnings go? 82%
  Returns about half
  Dividends + buybacks ¥99.7B ÷ Owner Earnings ¥121.5B — this fiscal year
  What this means

  Of ¥121.5B Owner Earnings, ¥99.7B (82%) went back to shareholders, ¥39.7B dividends, ¥60.0B buybacks. Returning most of it is the mark of a mature business with little left to reinvest at a high return; reinvesting most could mean a long runway, or empire-building. The split doesn't say which; the return earned on it (see ROIC) does. This year's proportion is 82%; across the record (2018–2026) it is 68%, the capital-allocation section below.

• Investing or harvesting? 1.37×
  Expanding
  Capex ¥96.6B ÷ depreciation ¥70.7B
  What this means

  Descriptive, not a grade. Above ~1× means investing faster than assets wear out (growth, or, sustained for years, today's earnings carrying less depreciation than tomorrow's will). Below means spending less than it's wearing out (efficiency, or a melting asset base). The ratio won't tell you which; the filings will.

Durability & moat, 2017–2026

Whether the record’s returns held, and what the capital reinvested earned.

• Profitable years 10 of 10
  What this means

  Never lost money over the record, the earnings stability Graham insisted on.

• Return on capital ≥ 15% 8 of 10 yrs
  What this means

  A moat shows up as a high return on invested capital that holds year after year, not one good vintage.

• Operating margin 11% → 17% (3-yr avg ends)
  What this means

  Through the cycle the operating margin widened — about 11% early to 17% lately, median 15% — pricing power intact or improving.

• Reinvestment, incremental ROIC 24%
  What this means

  Every extra dollar the business reinvested came back at a high incremental return — the lens GBM read for a moat that reinvests rather than merely harvests. The record and the 10-K are where you check whether the rate holds.

• Owner earnings growth +10%/yr
  What this means

  Owner earnings grew about 10% a year over the record.

• Worst year 2017 · 5.7% op. margin
  What this means

  Stayed profitable even in its hardest year, the resilience that survives recessions.

• Dividend record rising
  What this means

  Paid and raised the dividend across the record, the continuity Graham prized.