Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.

Furukawa Electric reported first-quarter operating profit for the fiscal year ending March 2027 of 25.4 billion yen, triple the year-earlier level, and raised its full-year operating profit forecast to 123 billion yen from the initial 95 billion yen. Revenue came to 365.2 billion yen, up just over 20 percent from a year earlier, while the operating margin improved to 7.0 percent. The company said growth in data-center-related products and automotive components, surging copper prices, productivity improvements, and sales price adjustments contributed to the results. For the full year, it expects revenue of 1.53 trillion yen, ordinary profit of 143 billion yen, and net profit of 105 billion yen. The stock closed at 4,000 yen on August 25, up 10 percent from the previous day, and has swung sharply over the past month, with a trading range exceeding 50 percent.

Furukawa Electric has revised upward its consolidated net profit forecast for the fiscal year ending March 2027, from the previous 82 billion yen to 105 billion yen. The move reflects stronger-than-expected inquiries for data center-related products amid expanding artificial intelligence demand, significantly exceeding the average analyst estimate of 85.2 billion yen. The full-year operating profit forecast has also been raised from 95 billion yen to 123 billion yen, supported by robust performance in the optical solutions and information components businesses, as well as an increase in equity-method investment income. First-quarter consolidated net profit came to 22.2 billion yen, 4.3 times the year-earlier figure, while operating profit was 25.4 billion yen, triple the prior-year level.

Furukawa Electric announced it will make a total capital investment of 100 billion yen to expand production capacity for optical fiber and optical fiber cable, driven by growing demand for generative AI. The company will acquire manufacturing equipment, land, and buildings in the United States, Brazil, Japan, and India, with operations expected to start sequentially from the second half of fiscal 2028. Through this investment, production capacity for rollable ribbon cable is expected to roughly double in fiber count terms compared with the end of fiscal 2025. Customer purchase intentions, including long-term commitments, have been confirmed, and the impact on consolidated results for the fiscal year ending March 2027 is expected to be minimal.

The global automotive wiring harness market is projected to grow from USD 42.95 billion in 2026 to USD 49.29 billion by 2033, a compound annual growth rate of 2.0 percent. The expansion is driven by the industry's shift from distributed to zonal electrical and electronic architectures, which can reduce wire length and harness complexity by 20 to 30 percent while increasing demand for higher-value, high-voltage, and high-bandwidth harness systems. Wires remain the largest component segment, with copper wires accounting for more than 60 percent of market value, and optical fiber is the fastest-growing material segment for internal combustion engine vehicles as data transmission needs rise. Asia Pacific is expected to lead the market through 2033, supported by large-scale vehicle production in China, Japan, South Korea, and India, where economical passenger cars represent over 80 percent of regional output. Key companies assessed in the report include Yazaki Corporation, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Aptiv, Furukawa Electric, Leoni AG, and Lear Corporation.