Japan IT Services Morning Brief (2026/11/02)

Coverage: Fri Oct 30 – Sun Nov 1, 2026 (Tokyo time). Japan prices are Fri Oct 30 closes; US and India prices are Fri Oct 30 closes.

The big picture: It was a rough Friday in Tokyo. The Nikkei 225 dropped 2.12% to 63,290.11 and TOPIX fell 0.95% to 3,965.07. AI and chip names led the sell-off after weak results from Alphabet, Amazon and Intel in the US. Fujitsu went limit-down (−16.20%) after a big earnings miss. Not everything sold off, though: NRI bounced 4.01% after raising guidance, and BayCurrent hit a new all-time high. Overseas, IT services caught a bid even as the Nasdaq slid. Accenture, Cognizant and EPAM all closed up more than 4%, and the Nifty IT index rose 2.32%.

1. Price moves (Tokyo, Fri Oct 30 close)

We checked every close against both Kabutan and Yahoo! Finance Japan, and the two matched for every name.

Indices: Nikkei 225 closed at 63,290.11 (−1,369.36, −2.12%), its first fall in four days. It was down more than ¥1,900 at the worst point. TOPIX closed at 3,965.07 (−0.95%). The BOJ left policy unchanged at its Oct 30 meeting, as the market expected.

2. What drove the moves

Fujitsu (6702): −16.20%, limit-down

Fujitsu got absolutely hammered. It opened down about 12% at ¥3,787, then slid all the way to the ¥700 daily limit and closed limit-down at ¥3,622. Here’s why:

• A big Q2 miss. July–September adjusted operating profit was ¥59.0bn, down 31.6% year on year. The market was looking for around ¥77bn, according to Fisco via Kabutan. For April–September, adjusted operating profit fell 6.1% to ¥114.0bn on revenue up 3.8% to ¥1.63tn.
• What went wrong: losses on unprofitable projects meant IT services gross margins didn’t improve as much as investors hoped. In hardware, higher component costs dented system-products profit, and the PC/devices business (Ubiquitous Solutions) saw sales and profit fall after last year’s Windows 10 upgrade rush. The core Service Solutions segment still grew sales and profit.
• Guidance kept, but the bar is higher. Fujitsu kept its full-year adjusted operating profit forecast at ¥425bn. The Street now sees a tougher hurdle for the second half.
• Net profit for the half fell 68.5%, mostly because the year-ago period included the gain from selling Shinko Electric. That’s a one-off comparison, not a new problem.
• Volume was about 24m shares, roughly 1.7x Thursday’s 13.9m. Fujitsu was the #3 decliner on the TSE Prime market.

Sources: Kabutan/Fisco, Kabutan/Minkabu, Nikkei, Mynavi TECH+

NRI (4307): +4.01%

Investors piled back into NRI. Oct 30 was the first trading day after its Oct 29 after-close results. NRI raised its full-year net profit forecast 3.4% to ¥123.0bn, adding to its record-profit outlook, and lifted the annual dividend to ¥88 from ¥84. H1 net profit rose 12.0% to ¥60.0bn, and the Q2 operating margin improved to 21.2% from 20.6%. Kabutan also noted that IT consulting names held up well while AI and chip stocks sold off.

Sources: Kabutan (results), Kabutan feature on IT consulting stocks

NEC (6701): −2.10%

NEC kept drifting lower, its third straight drop after the Oct 28 results. We found no new company-specific reason for Friday’s move. The weak, AI-led tape was the obvious backdrop. On the positive side, Iwai Cosmo kept its top rating (A) and raised its target to ¥6,300 from ¥6,000.

Source: Kabutan rating report

Hitachi (6501): +0.45%

Hitachi stabilized a bit after Thursday’s 9.77% sell-the-news drop, but it gave up most of an early bounce: it opened at ¥5,193 and closed at ¥5,094. Iwai Cosmo kept an A rating and raised its target to ¥6,600 from ¥6,200. No other new reason was reported.

Source: Kabutan rating report

BayCurrent (6532): +1.68%, new all-time high

BayCurrent bucked the trend. It traded as high as ¥12,205 intraday, a record, before closing at ¥11,825. Tokai Tokyo kept a Bullish rating and raised its target price to ¥13,300 from ¥10,100. Kabutan pointed to the strong August-half results BayCurrent reported on Oct 15 and to money rotating into IT consulting names.

Sources: Kabutan rating report, Kabutan weekly record-high list, Kabutan feature

Dentsu Soken (4812): +0.03%, TOB starts today

The stock is still glued to the deal price. After the close on Oct 30, G.K. VIC (the ITOCHU-linked vehicle) said all conditions had been met. The tender offer at ¥2,880 per share runs from Nov 2 to Dec 2, 2026, and Dentsu Soken’s board again recommended that shareholders tender. Separately, nine-month recurring profit rose 9.9% to ¥18.5bn, which is 71.1% of the ¥26.1bn full-year plan.

Sources: Company notice (TDnet via Kabutan), Kabutan (results)

Others

Canon MJ (+2.06%), TIS (+1.56%), NSSOL (+0.88%), NSD (+0.39%), DTS (+0.17%) and BIPROGY (+0.06%) all moved less than 3%, and we found no specific news reported for them on the day. Earnings to watch: NSSOL and DTS on Nov 2 (today), TIS on Nov 4 and BIPROGY on Nov 5, according to Kabutan’s schedule.

3. Company news

• NTT DATA: service suspended after a breach at a contractor (Oct 31). NTT DATA shut down “STdirectServices,” which supports perks for corporate-bond buyers, after a third party gained unauthorized access to a SaaS service run by one of its contractors. Personal data may have leaked, and the contractor is investigating. NTT DATA says no bonds currently qualify for perks, so the business impact is nil for now. Rakuten Securities said the breach happened on Oct 30 and that data for 362 entries (buyers of three digital-perk bonds) may have leaked. It said login IDs and passwords were not included. NTT DATA release / NHK / Rakuten Securities
• Fujitsu launches a fast cyber-incident investigation service (Oct 30). The new service uses AI to analyze malware and suspicious URLs and reports results in as little as one business day. Fujitsu’s security experts check the AI’s findings. Nikkei
• Big-3 earnings scorecard (Oct 30). Mynavi TECH+ compared the three: Hitachi and NEC both raised full-year forecasts, while Fujitsu’s sales rose but its profit fell. Hitachi lifted its full-year adjusted EBITA forecast to ¥1.56tn and announced “Hitachi Digital,” which combines GlobalLogic and Hitachi Digital Services. NEC’s BluStellar sales rose 29.5% in H1. Fujitsu’s Uvance sales grew 26.5%, and modernization orders jumped 56%. Mynavi TECH+
• Industry theme: IT consulting as a safe haven (Oct 31). In a feature, Kabutan argued that IT consulting stocks are drawing money while AI stocks wobble. It cited the BOJ Tankan figure of +10.3% for FY2026 software investment and growing demand for cybersecurity. NRI, BayCurrent and TIS were mentioned. Kabutan
• Weekend column (Nov 1). With Anthropic’s IPO approaching, Kabutan’s market-forecast column asked whether “anxiety” about AI stocks will turn into “expectation.” It expects the Tokyo market to stay firm in November as stocks with strong results get bought during peak earnings season, and it put the November Nikkei range at ¥59,000–66,000. Kabutan

4. Overseas peers (Fri Oct 30 close)

For context, the S&P 500 fell 1.82% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 2.86% on Oct 30. India’s Nifty 50 rose 0.51% to 23,053, and the Nifty IT index gained 2.32% to 32,606.90. We cross-checked US prices on Yahoo Finance and Kabutan US, and India prices on Yahoo Finance and ThePip.

What happened:

• India IT led the market. Nifty IT was the top-performing sector index on Oct 30, and Wipro (+4.32%) and Infosys (+3.36%) were among the biggest gainers in the group. Moneycontrol tied the move to two things. First, Cognizant’s Q3 revenue came in in line, at $5.66bn, up 4.8% in constant currency. Second, analysts see Indian IT as a relatively defensive play when AI stocks sell off, because companies may lean on outsourcing and automation instead of expensive in-house AI spending. Moneycontrol / CNBC-TV18
• Cognizant clawed back part of its loss. It rose 4.14% the day after falling 5.79%. On Oct 29 it trimmed its 2026 constant-currency revenue growth guide to 4.0–4.4% and reported Q3 bookings down 7% year on year. Trailing-12-month bookings rose 4% to $28.7bn, and adjusted EPS rose 7.2% to $1.49. We found no fresh news behind the rebound. Cognizant IR
• Accenture and EPAM rallied without company news. Reliable sources reported no company-specific news for either stock on Oct 30. Both rose on a day when big tech fell on worries about AI spending, which fits the sector rotation described above.

Our read (interpretation, not reported fact): The global tape on Oct 30 favored IT services over AI hardware and mega-cap tech, and Japan showed the same split: NRI and BayCurrent held up while chip stocks sank. That helps the sector’s case. But Fujitsu shows the market will punish execution problems (unprofitable projects, hardware cost pass-through) even in a sector that’s in favor. Watch whether that “defensive services” bid carries into NSSOL/DTS today and TIS/BIPROGY later this week. Also watch whether Fujitsu draws bargain-hunters or more forced selling on Monday.

Sources

• Kabutan, price history pages: Fujitsu, NEC, Hitachi, NRI, BayCurrent, TIS, NSSOL, Canon MJ, Dentsu Soken, BIPROGY, DTS, NSD
• Yahoo! Finance Japan, price history (cross-check): 6702.T (the same URL format was used for all 12 codes)
• Kabutan: Nikkei close report, Oct 30
• Kabutan/Fisco: Fujitsu sell-off; Stocks in focus, Oct 30
• Kabutan/Minkabu Press: Fujitsu plunges
• Nikkei: Fujitsu limit-down; Fujitsu cyber investigation service
• Kabutan: NRI guidance and dividend raise
• Kabutan: Rating report Oct 30 (top rating kept, target raised)
• Kabutan: Weekly all-time-high stocks
• Kabutan: IT consulting feature, Oct 31
• Kabutan: Market forecast column, Nov 1
• Dentsu Soken via TDnet/Kabutan: TOB opinion notice, Oct 30; Kabutan: Q3 results
• NTT DATA: STdirectServices suspension
• NHK: NTT DATA contractor breach
• Rakuten Securities: Notice on external provider breach
• Mynavi TECH+: Hitachi/NEC/Fujitsu earnings comparison
• Cognizant IR: Q3 2026 results
• Moneycontrol: Nifty IT surges amid AI sell-off
• CNBC-TV18: Sensex/Nifty close, Oct 30
• ThePip: Nifty IT constituents, Oct 30
• Kabutan US: ACN, IBM, CTSH, EPAM
• Yahoo Finance (US/India prices and indices): ACN history (the same format was used for IBM, CTSH, EPAM, TCS.NS, INFY.NS, WIPRO.NS, HCLTECH.NS, ^GSPC, ^IXIC, ^NSEI, ^CNXIT)