Unicharm Corp. (UNICY) Stock Price & How to Invest
Last updated July 2026
Short answer
UNICY is the US over-the-counter ADR of Unicharm Corporation, the Tokyo-listed (8113) maker of Moony and MamyPoko diapers, Sofy sanitary pads, Lifree adult incontinence products and Gran Deli pet food. It is a defensive consumer-staples name: earnings recovered in the first half of 2026 after a weak 2025, though a cost-driven profit forecast cut in August 2026 shows how sensitive margins still are to oil-linked raw materials.
UNICY stock price
As of 2026-10-09, Unicharm Corp. (UNICY) last closed at $3.05, down 5.9% over the past year. Over the past 52 weeks it has traded between $2.78 and $3.59.
Prices are daily closing prices from Yahoo Finance and may be delayed. For the live quote, check your broker or Unicharm Corp.'s investor relations page. Walnut is informational, not investment advice.
What does Unicharm Corp. (UNICY) do?
Unicharm Corporation makes disposable hygiene products and pet supplies, reporting in yen under IFRS on a January to December year. Personal Care (wellness care for older adults, feminine care and baby care) produced ¥774.4 billion of fiscal 2025's ¥945.3 billion in sales (about 82%) and ¥83.2 billion of its ¥108.9 billion core operating income. Pet Care (dog and cat food, treats and pet toiletries) added ¥156.1 billion of sales (about 17%) and ¥24.1 billion of core operating income, a higher margin than the core business. Industrial nonwovens make up the small remainder. Brands include Moony and MamyPoko diapers, Sofy pads, Lifree incontinence products, and Gran Deli, Silver Spoon and Deo-clean in pet care. By selling subsidiary, 2025 sales were ¥342.5 billion in Japan (about 36%), ¥78.0 billion in China, ¥311.3 billion in the rest of Asia and ¥213.5 billion elsewhere, mainly North America, the Middle East and Oceania.
Keiichiro Takahara founded the business in Ehime prefecture in February 1961 as Taisei Kako, a building materials maker. It began making sanitary napkins in 1963, took the Unicharm name in 1974, listed in Tokyo in 1976 and launched disposable baby diapers in 1981. Expansion abroad began with Taiwan in 1984 and Thailand in 1987, then China, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, India, Australia, Vietnam and Myanmar between 1995 and 2013. Its Indonesian subsidiary listed in Jakarta in 2019. On June 30, 2026 it bought Nutrire Indústria de Alimentos, the Brazilian pet food maker behind Monello, for about ¥22.6 billion in cash. Shares split three-for-one on January 1, 2025.
Unicharm remains controlled by its founding family. As of December 31, 2025 its largest shareholder was Unitec Corporation, based in Shikokuchuo, Ehime, where the company was founded, with 26.72% of shares outstanding excluding treasury stock. Takahara Kikin K.K. held another 4.84%. BNY Mellon, as ADR depositary, held 1.35%. Takahisa Takahara, the founder's son, is Representative Director, President and CEO. The group had 50 subsidiaries, 8 associates and 16,542 full-time employees at the end of 2025.
The investment picture is a recovery with a cost problem. In fiscal 2025 sales fell 4.4% and core operating margin dropped from 14.0% to 11.5%, which management blamed on reputational damage in China, impairments and an inventory reset in Indonesia. The first half of 2026 was better: sales rose 4.9% to ¥487.1 billion and core operating income 14.1% to ¥65.0 billion. In August, though, management cut its full-year core operating income forecast from ¥136.0 billion to ¥113.0 billion on Middle East-driven raw material and logistics costs. The 2026 to 2030 plan commits to ¥1.3 trillion of sales and a 15% core margin, alongside a 65% total shareholder return ratio.
What's driving Unicharm Corp. (UNICY)?
1. Wellness care and an aging Asia
Adult incontinence is the category Unicharm's mid-term plan leans on hardest. The plan aims to lift wellness care from 17% of sales in 2025 to 24% by 2030. Japan, where Lifree holds the top market share, is the profit base. China is the large prize. Its population is aging faster than Japan's did, but the company says many people there still use sanitary pads or bed sheets in place of specialized products. Unicharm is starting with light-incontinence products and paying for awareness up front.
2. Pet care as a growth and margin engine
Pet care earned a ~15% segment margin in fiscal 2025 against ~11% for personal care, and in the first half of 2026 its segment profit rose 21.6% on 9.6% sales growth. The plan aims to lift pet care from about 17% of sales to about 20% by 2030. North America is the main overseas driver, led by wet-type cat snacks built on Japanese product know-how. In China it makes food with JIA PETS, an equity-method associate. The June 2026 purchase of Nutrire gives it a factory and export network in Brazil, which it calls the third-largest market.
3. China repair and Indonesia normalization
Sales booked by Chinese subsidiaries fell from ¥107.3 billion in 2024 to ¥78.0 billion in 2025, about 27%. The annual securities report blames repeated reputational damage. Unicharm has moved spending toward e-commerce channels, wellness care and pet care there, and expects the payoff from the second half of 2026. Indonesia, one of its largest overseas markets, had an inventory reset in 2025 tied to a change in its sales structure. Management credited Indonesia's recovery for much of Asia's 23.2% core profit growth in the first half of 2026.
4. Cost pass-through under a Middle East shock
Diapers and pads depend on pulp, oil-derived polymers and superabsorbent materials, and they are bulky to ship. Gross margin rose 1.7 points in the first half of 2026, to above 40%, with help from favorable raw material prices. The August forecast cut assumes those prices and freight costs rise sharply in the second half because of the Middle East conflict. The revised full-year guidance of ¥113.0 billion implies roughly ¥48 billion of core operating income in the second half, below the ¥51.9 billion earned in the second half of 2025. How fast new and reformulated products carry higher prices, which management calls value pass-through, will decide whether that number holds.
5. Global South volume through OEM
The 2030 plan leans on OEM and ODM partners for cheaper capacity in price-sensitive markets. It is aiming at an estimated ~¥600 billion feminine and baby care market in Africa and around India and Brazil. India, where diaper and sanitary pad use is still low, has been growing steadily, and Egypt delivered double-digit sales and profit growth in the first half of 2026. These markets carry thin margins at first, so the strategy pays off only if volume arrives quickly.
6. A more aggressive capital return policy
The new plan raises the total return target from 50% to 65% or more for five years, with a dividend on equity floor above 4.5%. The 2026 dividend is planned at ¥22 per share, up ¥4, with about ¥2 a year of increases after that, and buybacks take up the rest (~¥19.0 billion, ~19.4 million shares, by April 2026). A 65.9% equity ratio, ~¥254.5 billion of cash and ~¥13.3 billion of borrowings at June 30, 2026 leave room for both the payout and deals like Nutrire.
What are the risks to Unicharm Corp. (UNICY)?
The nearest risk is input and freight costs. Unicharm cut its 2026 core operating income forecast by 16.9% in August because it expects sharp rises in raw material and logistics costs from the Middle East conflict, and the implied second half is weaker than a year earlier even after a strong first half. China is the second risk. Sales there fell about 27% in 2025, management blames repeated reputational damage, and the payoff from its upfront investment in e-commerce, wellness and pet care had not shown up as of June 2026. Currency moves both ways for a yen reporter: first-half 2026 sales in Asia rose 3.4% in yen but fell 2.5% in local currency terms, so a stronger yen would take away part of the reported growth. Japan's baby care market keeps shrinking with the birth rate, which pushes the company to rely on adult care, pet care and price increases at home. Competition is heavy in every category, and cheaper local brands gain share when consumers trade down, as the company says is happening in Asian baby care. The 2030 targets (¥1.3 trillion of sales, a 15% core margin, 15% ROE) are well above 2025's 11.5% margin and 8.3% ROE, and the previous plan's 2026 goal of ¥1.15 trillion in sales was not reached. For ADR holders, the founding family's roughly 30% combined stake limits outside influence, and Japanese tax is withheld from dividends.
Is UNICY a buy or a sell?
We give no verdict on Unicharm Corp.. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.
The case for buying. Wellness care and an aging Asia. Adult incontinence is the category Unicharm's mid-term plan leans on hardest.
The case against. The nearest risk is input and freight costs.
Read the full bull and bear case on UNICY, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.
How is Unicharm Corp. (UNICY) valued? (approximate, October 2026)
A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Unicharm Corp.'s investor relations page or your broker.
- Net sales (TTM to June 2026): ~¥968 billion
- Core operating income (TTM): ~¥117 billion
- Profit to owners (TTM): ~¥64 billion
- FY2026 guidance (Aug 2026): ¥1,015B sales, ¥113B core OI, EPS ¥40.68
- Dividend per share: ¥18 (FY2025), ¥22 planned (FY2026)
- Equity ratio / cash (June 30, 2026): 65.9% / ~¥254.5 billion
The trailing figures combine fiscal 2025 with the first half of 2026 and show a business clawing back from a weak year. Core operating income of ~¥117 billion is above 2025's ¥108.9 billion but well short of 2024's ¥138.5 billion. The revised full-year guidance points to a softer second half, so the recovery is not yet a straight line. Profit attributable to owners dipped 1.9% in the first half despite higher operating profit, because 2025 included ¥5.3 billion of fire insurance proceeds from India. The balance sheet is close to debt-free, which is why the company can promise a 65% total return ratio while still buying businesses.
Who competes with Unicharm Corp. (UNICY)?
Global hygiene multinationals
Procter & Gamble (Pampers, Whisper, Always), Kimberly-Clark (Huggies, Kotex, Depend) and Essity (TENA, Libero) compete across baby, feminine and adult care, with bigger brand budgets in the Americas and Europe. Unicharm is stronger in Japan, Southeast Asia and parts of the Middle East.
Japanese and Asian rivals
Kao (Merries diapers, Laurier pads) and Daio Paper (GOO.N) compete directly in Japan and export to China and Southeast Asia. In China, Hengan International and a growing number of domestic and e-commerce-native brands have taken share. Unicharm's own reports point to price-led polarization in Asian baby care.
Pet food and treats
Mars, Nestlé Purina and Colgate-Palmolive's Hill's Pet Nutrition dominate global pet food. In Japan and in the wet cat treat niche, Inaba Foods (the Churu brand) is a direct rival to Unicharm's cat snacks in Japan and North America. Local premium brands compete in China and Brazil.
Private label and low-cost local producers
Retailer own brands and regional manufacturers in India, Indonesia, Africa and Latin America win on price in the volume tier, which Unicharm is targeting with OEM and ODM sourcing and a two-brand strategy in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.
What stocks are similar to Unicharm Corp. (UNICY)?
Other names that sit close to UNICY: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.
How to invest in Unicharm Corp. (UNICY)
There are three common ways to get UNICY exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so UNICY sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.
Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where UNICY fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.
New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.
The bottom line on Unicharm Corp. (UNICY)
Owning UNICY is a bet that a family-controlled Japanese hygiene and pet care company can turn emerging-market volume and an aging population into the double-digit margins its 2030 plan promises, while Middle East-driven cost spikes and a weaker China pull the other way. The dividend has risen for 25 straight years.
More on Unicharm Corp. (UNICY)
Whether UNICY is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is UNICY a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the UNICY stock forecast.
For income investors, whether UNICY pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does UNICY pay a dividend? And to weigh UNICY against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: UNICY vs PG and UNICY vs KMB.
Wondering how UNICY fits the portfolio you already own? Walnut is an AI investing app that connects your brokerage read-only and answers questions like that about your actual holdings: overlap, concentration, and how each position tracks the S&P 500. Compare the best AI portfolio analyzers or see the best AI investing apps in 2026.
Investing in Unicharm Corp. with AI
Connect the broker you already use and ask Walnut's AI how UNICY fits what you actually hold: whether you own it already through a fund, what it would do to your concentration, and how it has tracked the S&P 500. Read-only by default, and you approve anything before it reaches your broker.
FAQ
What is UNICY stock?
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UNICY is the US over-the-counter ADR of Unicharm Corporation, whose shares trade on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Prime Market under code 8113. Unicharm makes baby diapers, sanitary pads, adult incontinence products and pet food, with Japan, the rest of Asia and the Middle East as its largest markets. Fiscal 2025 sales were ¥945.3 billion.
Does Unicharm pay a dividend?
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Yes. Unicharm pays twice a year, at the June interim and the December year end. It paid ¥18 per share for fiscal 2025 (¥9 plus ¥9) and plans ¥22 for fiscal 2026 (¥11 plus ¥11), which the company says would be its 25th consecutive increase. ADR holders get the dividend in dollars, after currency conversion, Japanese withholding tax and depositary fees.
How are UNICY dividends taxed for US investors?
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Japan withholds tax on dividends paid to nonresidents, generally 15.315% for eligible US holders under the US-Japan treaty and 20.42% if treaty relief is not applied. The withheld amount may be claimable as a US foreign tax credit, though usually not inside an IRA. A tax adviser can confirm the treatment for a specific account.
When does Unicharm report earnings?
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Unicharm's fiscal year runs January to December and it reports quarterly in yen under IFRS. In 2026 it published first-quarter results on May 8 and second-quarter results on August 5. On that pattern, third-quarter results should come in early November and full-year results, with next year's guidance, in February. English translations are posted on its investor relations site.
Who owns Unicharm?
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The founding Takahara family's interests control the company. As of December 31, 2025, Unitec Corporation of Shikokuchuo, Ehime held 26.72% and Takahara Kikin K.K. held 4.84%. Japanese trust banks, The Iyo Bank, Nippon Life and global custodians make up most of the rest of the top ten. CEO Takahisa Takahara is the founder's son. Unicharm also held about 141.7 million treasury shares at June 30, 2026.
Why did Unicharm cut its 2026 forecast?
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On August 5, 2026 Unicharm lowered its fiscal 2026 core operating income forecast from ¥136.0 billion to ¥113.0 billion and its profit forecast from ¥86.5 billion to ¥70.0 billion. It raised its sales forecast slightly, to ¥1,015 billion. The reason given was an expected sharp rise in raw material and logistics costs caused by escalating tensions in the Middle East. Management plans to offset part of it with new products carrying higher prices.
How big is Unicharm's pet care business?
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Pet care brought in ¥156.1 billion of sales in fiscal 2025, about 17% of the group, and ¥24.1 billion of core operating income. In the first half of 2026 segment sales rose 9.6% to ¥82.9 billion and segment profit 21.6% to ¥15.7 billion, led by North American wet cat snacks. The target is about 20% of sales by 2030.
What are Unicharm's 2030 targets?
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The 13th Mid-term Management Plan, published in February 2026, commits to ¥1.3 trillion of sales, a 15% core operating margin and 15% ROE by 2030, with a stretch goal of ¥1.5 trillion, 17% and 17%. It also sets a total shareholder return ratio of 65% or more and a market capitalization goal of ¥4 trillion. For comparison, 2025 delivered ¥945.3 billion of sales, an 11.5% margin and 8.3% ROE.
How do I buy UNICY stock in the US?
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UNICY trades over the counter, so availability depends on the broker. Many large US brokers that allow OTC securities list it, though volume can be thin and spreads wide. Some brokers with international access offer the Tokyo shares (8113) directly, settled in yen. Either way the price tracks Tokyo, converted to dollars.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Financial figures on this page are approximations; always verify current numbers with Unicharm Corp.'s investor relations page or your broker before making investment decisions.