<4403> Nissha 2201 +67

It rebounded significantly. Nomura Securities continues to rate it as a top-rated 'Buy', and has raised the target stock price from 2530 yen to 2660 yen. Sales of surfactants for cosmetics, as well as cosmetics raw materials and ODM products, are performing well. Although the short-term inventory adjustment is affecting the sales of DDS, the resolution of customers' raw material inventory is progressing, and DDS is expected to only experience a slight decrease in demand compared to previous expectations. Furthermore, they believe they have ample room for shareholder returns and continue to focus on shareholder return initiatives.

<6634> Nex Group 108 +3

It rose significantly. Nex, a subsidiary, announced that it has begun developing a USB dongle-type data terminal compatible with the 5G-based AI/IoT communication standard '5G RedCap'. By supporting '5G RedCap', which maintains the characteristics of 5G, such as 'low latency' and 'connectivity with multiple devices', while suppressing the communication speed to the level of LTE Cat.4, it becomes easier to replace LTE with 5G, enabling cost reduction, size reduction, and power consumption reduction.

<4462> Ishihara Chemical 2532 +102

It rose significantly. The company announced a partial change to the self-owned stock acquisition limit set on May 15th. The limit was previously set at 0.25 million shares corresponding to 1.67% of the issued shares and up to 0.5 billion yen in value, but it has been expanded to 0.37 million shares corresponding to 2.50% and up to 0.9 billion yen in value. The acquisition period remains unchanged from May 16th, 2024 to October 31st, 2024. At the same time, today, they announced that they will entrust the purchase of a maximum of 0.22 million shares, equivalent to 1.48% of the issued shares, through the Tokyo Stock Exchange's off-auction own-stock purchase trading, and have acquired 0.2166 million shares.

<4059> Mag2 Inc. 619 +100

It hit the upper limit. They announced the launch of the fan site platform 'MagOne', which expands the opportunities for creators. It enables multifaceted information dissemination by creators, interaction between creators and fans, and support for creators' activities. One of the strengths of 'MagOne' is the 'AI-powered sponsor matching', which is integrated with a system that matches advertisements using AI developed by 1sec.

<3038> Kobe Steel 4077 -57.

Significant decline. It was announced that the individual operating profit and loss for July was a deficit of 3.017 billion yen. This is the first time since November last year (a deficit of 3.839 billion yen) that the monthly individual operating profit and loss has become a deficit. The company continues to work on foreign exchange reserves and recorded market valuation losses on these items outside of operations, as the yen has significantly appreciated until the end of July. On the other hand, if the yen continues to appreciate, there will be significant cost advantages in purchasing imported goods, and it is expected to increase operating profit.

<5956> Tohso 523 +17.

Significant increase. It was announced that the company will conduct a share buyback of up to 0.15 million shares, or 0.09 billion yen, which is equivalent to 1.66% of the issued shares. The acquisition period is from today to December 31st. It is implemented in order to strengthen shareholder returns, improve capital efficiency, and pursue flexible capital policies based on changes in the business environment. Today, the company mainly engages in off-floor transactions for buying back its own shares at the Tokyo Stock Exchange, with a limit of 0.12 million shares, equivalent to 1.33% of the issued shares, and acquired 0.12 million shares.

<4506> Sumitomo Pharma 652 +41.

Sharp rebound. SMBC Nikko Securities has raised its investment rating from '3' to '2' and increased its target stock price from 330 yen to 600 yen. This is due to the implementation of cost reductions for the fiscal year ending March 2025, which is expected to lead to sustained profitability from the fiscal year ending March 2026 onwards. The growth of the three core products: overactive bladder treatment drugs, prostate cancer treatment drugs, and uterine fibroid treatment drugs, is expected to provide stable growth until 2030 and beyond. The limited free cash flow in the near term is considered, and the potential for upside through investments such as M&A is evaluated.

<2914> JT 4165 +58.

Significant rebound. It was announced after the end of yesterday's trading session that the company has entered into a takeover agreement with VGR, the fourth-largest tobacco company in the United States, which seems to be a positive factor for buyers. The company plans to conduct a public tender offer for all outstanding shares of VGR and make VGR a 100% consolidated subsidiary. The total transaction value is expected to be approximately 2.4 billion US dollars (approximately 378 billion yen). The board of directors of VGR unanimously supports this public tender offer.

<2317> Systena 389 +18

A significant rebound. It announced the implementation of a share buyback program, which will acquire 5 million shares, accounting for 1.37% of the issued shares, with a maximum amount of 2 billion yen. The acquisition period will be from today until October 31. It also announced the cancellation of 25 million treasury shares, accounting for 5.54% of the issued shares, on September 20. The company also announced the completion of the share buyback program, which was decided on May 13, by acquiring the maximum number of shares, 25 million shares (7.96223 billion yen), by August 21.

<4323> Nissho Technical 1719 +66

A significant rebound. It announced the start of providing the 'Dependents Qualification Investigation System,' one of the products of the insurance business support system 'iBss.' It is expected to reduce the data aggregation workload of many workplaces, reduce the security risks associated with paper management, reduce the workload and stress of union members, improve security levels, and enable centralized data management.