Research

Link-U Group: Manga app operator refocuses abroad after write-down

Link-U Group Inc. (4446) · Initiated coverage 2026-10-23 · Beluuga AI Research Team · Independent research

Not investment advice or a solicitation. See Important disclosures below.

Business overview

  • Link-U Group is a holding company, adopting the structure and current name in 2024. Its main business builds and runs manga distribution apps for publishers on servers it designs itself, housed in carrier-owned data centers. Apps it has released include Manga One with Shogakukan, Manga UP! for Square Enix, Manga Park for Hakusensha and Zebrack for Shueisha.
  • Through the year to July 2026 the group reported a single segment (internet services). Revenue was split into recurring services, meaning revenue share and monthly subscription fees, and initial and maintenance development work. The development work is described as a way to win recurring contracts.
  • Under its new medium-term plan, the group reorganized from the year to July 2027 into three business categories: Manga Platform (domestic and overseas manga services), Content Solution (new IP areas and system development) and Lifestyle (own products and the Viewn all-you-can-read service).
  • The group adopted IFRS from the year to July 2025, restating the prior year for comparison. Under IFRS, goodwill is no longer amortized and is instead tested for impairment (see Performance & Balance).

Investment case

  1. The earnings release for the year to July 2026 states that the manga service and production businesses each set full-year revenue records. It also says the company-defined adjusted operating profit, which excludes impairment and other income and expenses, rose from the prior year (see Performance & Balance).
  2. The group formed a business alliance with Crunchyroll, LLC in September 2025 and launched the Crunchyroll Manga service in North America in October 2025. On September 14, 2026 it entered a capital alliance with Crunchyroll's Japanese company. The company reports that overseas manga revenue grew and its share of manga service revenue increased.
  3. The earnings release attributes the lower revenue forecast for the year to July 2027 to the removal of Brightech and Value Consulting from the group and the reclassification of Compass as an equity-method affiliate. Excluding these changes, the company forecasts growth in revenue from continuing businesses.
  4. The annual securities report shows the top three customers' share of revenue falling each year from the year to July 2022 to the year to July 2025. Shogakukan and Shueisha were each listed as major customers in the year to July 2024, but no customer met the disclosure threshold in the year to July 2025.

Bear case

  1. The group recorded an operating loss and a net loss attributable to owners for the year to July 2026. This was mainly due to an impairment that included goodwill on Romanz, a marketing subsidiary acquired in 2024 (see Performance & Balance). The annual securities report for the year to July 2025 had forecast an operating profit for that year.
  2. The group's ownership history includes acquisitions that were later reversed or written down. Liberal Marketing was acquired in 2020 and sold in 2025. Brightech, consolidated in 2022, was removed from the group in July 2026. Romanz was acquired in 2024 and its goodwill was impaired in 2026.
  3. Cash fell in both of the last two fiscal years. In the year to July 2025, borrowing was used alongside a large outlay to buy out minority holders in subsidiaries. In the year to July 2026, spending went to equity-method investments, equipment and intangible assets (see Performance & Balance).
  4. The company says the domestic manga service market is growing more slowly as demand has leveled off and competition from new entrants has intensified. It has paid no dividend and states that shareholder returns are not expected for the time being.

Catalysts

  • The annual general meeting and the filing of the annual securities report for the year to July 2026 are both scheduled for October 28, 2026.
  • Link-U Marketing is scheduled to be merged out of existence on November 1, 2026. The year to July 2027 is the first year of Medium-Term Plan 2030, whose final year is the year to July 2030, and the first year reported under the three new business categories.
  • Watch progress of the Crunchyroll capital alliance and the North American Crunchyroll Manga service, which the company names as central to expanding the regions where its manga IP is distributed.

Key risks

  • The company states that it remains highly dependent on manga apps. A high share of revenue comes from smartphone apps sold through the Apple and Google app stores, so changes to those platforms' terms or strategies could affect results.
  • The company notes that the content distribution market has low barriers to entry and that publishers supply content non-exclusively. It also lists piracy sites and continued reliance on a small number of major customers as risks.
  • The group makes investments and acquisitions and warns that weaker results at investees could lead to impairment of goodwill, intangible assets or investment securities. An impairment of this kind occurred in the year to July 2026.
  • The company cites reliance on key officers, including the representative director, and a small organization as risks. The group CEO chairs the board and appears on the list of major shareholders (see Shareholders). In October 2025 the company became a company with an audit and supervisory committee, made up of three outside directors on a six-member board.

Trading liquidity

Median daily trading value US$1.31mn
Average daily volume 590,662 shares

2025-10-06 to 2026-10-22 (250 trading days). Trading value is daily closing price × daily volume on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Assumptions

  • Financial figures on this page come from beluuga.ai's daily data set; trading liquidity is measured over the period shown. We do not use consensus estimates.
  • Year-on-year comparisons for the year to July 2027 are affected by the deconsolidation of Brightech and Value Consulting and the move of Compass to equity-method accounting as of July 31, 2026. The company's adjusted operating profit is its own measure, not an IFRS figure.
  • Governance and risk descriptions come from the annual securities report filed in October 2025. Results and plans come from the earnings release dated September 14, 2026, so some descriptions may predate later changes.
  • Qualitative statements are taken from the annual securities report for the year to July 2025 and the full-year earnings release for the year to July 2026.

This is independent research. No company paid for or reviewed it. We do not publish ratings, price targets or buy/sell views. Figures on the other slides of this page come from beluuga.ai's daily data set.

Important disclosures

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Overview
Information & Communication

Link-U Group Inc.

Link-U Group operates a server platform business centered on proprietary self-designed servers, providing high-speed digital content delivery—primarily manga and video—alongside AI solutions for data accumulation, analysis, and processing on a one-stop basis. The company leverages its in-house server infrastructure technology, data processing capabilities, and content processing technology (including image compression, noise reduction, and upconversion) to deliver stable, high-performance digital content services. Its key competitive strengths include cost-efficient custom server hardware, multi-layered redundancy for service continuity, AI-driven recommendation and operational automation, and a dedicated high-speed internet line from Otemachi, Tokyo.

Market Cap
¥9.91B
US$63.1M
EV
¥10.4B
US$66.0M
Stock¥699▼-0.14%
US$1 = ¥157.05 (2026-10-22)
LTM EV/EBITDA
NM
LTM EV/EBIT
NM
LTM PER
NM
LTM PBR
4.3
x
Stock vs TOPIX (1Y, base=100)vs TOPIX ▼-43.9%pt
100123
Oct 23, 25 – Oct 22, 26StockTOPIX
1Feb 19, 262Q results: FY net profit guidance cut ¥308M→¥150-200M
2Jun 15, 26Q3 FY2026/07 earnings announced
3Sep 15, 26Full-year FY2026/07 earnings announced
MC → EV Bridge
9.91BUS$63.1MMarket Cap1.49BUS$9.50M+ Debt0.95BUS$6.07M− Cash0.08BUS$0.48M− Inv. Sec.10.4BUS$66.0MEV
AI Briefing
Generating insights…
Performance & Balance
Revenue 5Y (¥B)
2.28US$14.5M'22/73.13US$19.9M'23/73.66US$23.3M'24/74.84US$30.8M'25/74.80US$30.6M'26/7
EBITDA 5Y (¥B)
0.18US$1.16M'22/70.51US$3.27M'23/70.58US$3.67M'24/70.58US$3.72M'25/7-0.08-US$0.53M'26/7
Net Income 5Y (¥B)
0.03US$0.21M'22/70.20US$1.30M'23/70.23US$1.46M'24/70.15US$0.94M'25/7-0.55-US$3.53M'26/7
Capital Structure
61%
39%
EquityD/E 0.65xDebt
Liquidity vs Debt 5Y (¥B)▼ Net Debt
CashInv. Sec.Debt
1.38US$8.76M'22/72.28US$14.5M0.68US$4.36M'23/71.91US$12.1M0.99US$6.31M'24/71.65US$10.5M1.98US$12.6M'25/70.95US$6.07M1.49US$9.50M'26/7
Shareholders
Top 10 hold 77.1%
1
Hiroki MATSUBARA
31.31%
2
Tsuyoshi YAMADA
29.31%
3
MEDIASEEK,inc.
7.85%
4
THE BANK OF NEW YORK 134088 (Standing Proxy: Mizuho Bank, Ltd.)
2.77%
5
SBI SECURITIES Co., Ltd.
1.34%
6
Yuki MAEDA
1.27%
7
The Master Trust Bank of Japan, Ltd. (Trust Account)
1.07%
8
CERES INC.
0.88%
9
Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. (Standing Proxy: Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation)
0.70%
10
Hirayama Shokai Ltd.
0.56%
Management
6 officers
Hiroki MATSUBARA
Representative Director, Group CEO
Apr 2011 Joined Rakuten, Inc. (currently Rakuten Group, Inc.) Feb 2012 Joined CyberAgent, Inc. Apr 2013 Joined Dentsu Inc. (currently Dentsu Group Inc.) Aug 2013 Established the Company; Director Dec 2014 Representative Director, President of the Company Mar 2020 Representative Director, President, Hashpalette Inc. (currently HashPalette) Mar 2021 Representative Director, President, Brightech Inc. Jul 2021 Director, Amlink Inc. Jan 2022 Director, HashPalette Inc. Feb 2022 Director, Compass Inc. (current) Jul 2022 Director, Liberal Marketing Co., Ltd. Sep 2022 Director, Studio Moon6 Inc. Mar 2023 Director, REVELYA Inc. Sep 2023 Director, Buun Inc. (current) Feb 2024 Representative Director, Group CEO of the Company (current) Mar 2024 Representative Director, CEO, Link-U Marketing Inc. (current) Mar 2024 Director, Romanz Inc. (current) Aug 2025 Director, Link-U Products Inc. (current)
1989-03-11
Takahiro FUJITA
Director, Head of Group Administration
Apr 2005 Representative Director, President, Abi Inc. Dec 2014 Director, General Manager of Administration Division, Shasho Geijutsu Co., Ltd. Dec 2022 Joined the Company Mar 2023 Executive Officer, General Manager of Corporate Management Division of the Company Aug 2023 Head of Corporate Administration and Executive Officer, General Manager of Corporate Management Division of the Company Oct 2023 Representative Director, President, Liberal Marketing Co., Ltd. Dec 2023 Director, CFO, Link-U Technologies Inc. Jan 2024 General Manager, Management Division, Brightech Inc. (current) Feb 2024 Director, Head of Group Administration and Executive Officer, General Manager of Group Management Division of the Company (current) Nov 2024 Director, Compass Inc. (current) Mar 2025 Director, Link-U Marketing Inc. (current) Aug 2025 Director, Link-U Products Inc. (current)
1978-10-17
Hidenori HIRABUMI
Director, Head of Group Business
Apr 2005 Joined SoftBank BB Corp. Jan 2017 Joined the Company Jan 2017 Executive Officer in charge of VaLa of the Company Sep 2022 Representative Director, CEO, Studio Moon6 Inc. Jun 2024 Director, Buun Inc. Apr 2025 Executive Officer, General Manager of Group Management Promotion Division of the Company Oct 2025 Director, Head of Group Business of the Company (current)
1981-03-16
Shinji ANDO
Director (Full-time Audit and Supervisory Committee Member)
Apr 1979 Joined Bank of Japan Apr 2008 Joined Japan Post Insurance Co., Ltd. Apr 2019 Joined Kampo System Solutions Co., Ltd. Jun 2019 Director, Kampo System Solutions Co., Ltd. Oct 2021 Full-time Audit & Supervisory Board Member of the Company Nov 2024 Audit & Supervisory Board Member, Link-U Technologies Inc. (current) Oct 2025 Director (Full-time Audit and Supervisory Committee Member) of the Company (current)
1957-01-16
Hideki TSUKADA
Director (Audit and Supervisory Committee Member)
Apr 1996 Joined Tohmatsu Audit Corporation (currently Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu LLC) Sep 1999 Joined PricewaterhouseCoopers Tax Corporation Oct 2007 Established Tsukada Accounting Office; Head (current) Oct 2015 Audit & Supervisory Board Member of the Company Mar 2022 Audit & Supervisory Board Member, Yayoi Co., Ltd. (current) Mar 2022 Partner, Crea Audit Corporation (current) Oct 2025 Director (Audit and Supervisory Committee Member) of the Company (current)
1972-06-05
Aya HAGIUDA
Director (Audit and Supervisory Committee Member)
Nov 2011 Joined the Legal Training and Research Institute of the Supreme Court of Japan Dec 2012 Joined Kumagai Law Office Jul 2013 Partner, Tokyo Sakura Law Office May 2017 Established CREA LEGAL Inc.; Representative Director (current) Oct 2017 Established NEXTi Law & Accounting Office; Representative (current) Feb 2024 Director of the Company Oct 2025 Director (Audit and Supervisory Committee Member) of the Company (current)
1984-12-07
Large Shareholding Reports
Crunchyroll Co., Ltd.
2026-10-09
7.03%
BlackRock (Luxembourg) S.A.
2026-07-21
3.96%→2.59%
Apollo Capital Co., Ltd.
2026-07-01
8.61%
Takeshi YAMADA
2026-07-01
29.29%→20.68%
Annual report (as of 2026-01-31): 29.31%
Takeshi YAMADA
2026-06-24
29.30%→29.29%
Annual report (as of 2026-01-31): 29.31%
Takeshi YAMADA
2026-06-19
29.30%→29.29%
Annual report (as of 2026-01-31): 29.31%
BlackRock (Luxembourg) S.A.
2026-02-18
3.96%
Disclosures
No disclosures
Primary Source Filings
EDINET
2026-10-09
Large Shareholding Report
EDINETAmended
2026-10-05
Amended Securities Registration Statement
EDINET
2026-09-14
Securities Registration Statement
TDnet
2026-09-14
Full-Year Earnings Flash
FY ending Jul 2026
EDINET
2026-07-21
Large Shareholding Report
EDINET
2026-07-01
Large Shareholding Report
EDINET
2026-07-01
Large Shareholding Report
EDINETAmended
2026-06-24
Change Report
EDINET
2026-06-19
Large Shareholding Report
TDnet
2026-06-12
Q3 Earnings Flash
FY ending Jul 2026
EDINET
2026-03-16
Semi-Annual Securities Report
Period: Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
EDINET
2026-02-18
Large Shareholding Report
TDnet
2025-12-12
Q1 Earnings Flash
FY ending Jul 2026
EDINET
2025-10-29
Annual Securities Report
Period: Aug 2024 – Jul 2025
TDnet
2025-06-13
Q3 Earnings Flash
FY ending Jul 2025
EDINET
2025-03-14
Semi-Annual Securities Report
Period: Aug 2024 – Jul 2025
TDnet
2024-12-13
Q1 Earnings Flash
FY ending Jul 2025
EDINET
2024-10-30
Annual Securities Report
Period: Aug 2023 – Jul 2024
EDINETAmended
2024-10-30
Amended Securities Registration Statement
EDINET
2024-10-29
Securities Registration Statement
EDINET
2024-06-14
Quarterly Securities Report
Period: Feb 2024 – Apr 2024
EDINET
2024-03-15
Quarterly Securities Report
Period: Nov 2023 – Jan 2024
EDINET
2023-12-15
Quarterly Securities Report
Period: Aug 2023 – Oct 2023
EDINET
2023-10-26
Annual Securities Report
Period: Aug 2022 – Jul 2023
EDINET
2023-06-14
Quarterly Securities Report
Period: Feb 2023 – Apr 2023
EDINET
2023-03-17
Quarterly Securities Report
Period: Nov 2022 – Jan 2023
EDINET
2022-12-14
Quarterly Securities Report
EDINET
2022-10-27
Annual Securities Report
EDINET
2022-06-14
Quarterly Securities Report
EDINET
2022-03-15
Quarterly Securities Report
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