Data-center and chip-related demand lifted motion-control sales 22% in the first half, while robotics profit fell 43% and a new ERP system disrupted shipments. The full-year operating profit target came down to ¥57.5 billion.
Yaskawa Electric now expects to sell more and earn less this year than it planned in April. Its two main businesses explain why.
For the six months ended Aug 31, 2026, the Japanese maker of motion-control equipment and industrial robots reported revenue of ¥285.6 billion, up 9.8% from a year earlier. Operating profit fell 5.5% to ¥22.1 billion, and the operating margin narrowed to 7.7% from 9.0%. Profit attributable to shareholders rose 4.1% to ¥19.0 billion.
The segments
Motion control, which includes servo motors and drives used in factory automation, grew revenue 21.7% to ¥137.3 billion, and its operating profit rose 32.8% to ¥16.0 billion. The company attributed the growth to demand tied to data centers and semiconductors.
Robotics went the other way. Revenue slipped 0.7% to ¥118.4 billion, and operating profit dropped 43.3% to ¥6.0 billion. System engineering revenue rose 11.2% to ¥20.8 billion.
Yaskawa said profit was held back by the rollout of a new enterprise resource planning system, which disrupted production and shipments, along with higher indirect costs and restructuring charges in Europe.
The revised outlook
The company tied the higher revenue forecast to a weaker yen and the lower operating profit forecast to the ERP effects. The dividend forecast stays at ¥72 a share. The new operating profit target sits slightly below the roughly ¥57.9 billion analysts had expected.
The second-half arithmetic
The new targets imply second-half revenue of about ¥314.4 billion and operating profit of about ¥35.4 billion. That is an operating margin of about 11.3%, compared with 7.7% in the first half. For the full year, the targeted margin falls to about 9.6% from the 10.3% the April plan implied.
The forecast therefore assumes a sharp recovery in margins over the next six months. The company has tied the first-half shortfall to the ERP rollout.
The shares
Yaskawa ended Friday's Tokyo session at ¥4,783, little changed. Japanese markets are closed Monday for a holiday, so Tuesday is the next session. The stock is about 40% below its 52-week high of ¥7,915.
The case on each side
Read one way, the business mix is shifting in Yaskawa's favor. Motion control, the segment tied to data-center and chip investment, is growing quickly and raising profit, and the problems in robotics and systems are operational and temporary.
A second reading is that the full-year target depends on a steep second-half recovery. Robotics profit nearly halved, the ERP disruption has not been sized, and a weaker yen is doing part of the work on the revenue line.
What to watch
Third-quarter results will show whether margins move toward the 11% the second half requires. Robotics orders, and any statement that the ERP disruption has ended, are the most direct tests.