Sumitomo Metal Mining's (TYO:5713) profit in the first quarter of the 2026 fiscal year soared over 200% as demand for advanced materials grew amid the popularity of artificial intelligence-related technologies.
Profit attributable to owners surged 221% to 87.9 billion Japanese yen from 27.4 billion yen a year earlier, and diluted earnings per share rose year on year to 326.62 yen from 100.27 yen, according to the company's earnings results published Monday.
Net sales jumped 42% to 540.1 billion yen from 379.6 billion yen in the previous year.
The company attributed the growth to higher metal prices, offsetting higher costs triggered by the Middle East crisis, and demand for advance materials that are used in electronic components for data centers.
The company also conducted the repurchase of 2,065,800 shares for 20 billion yen between May 12 and May 28. The share buyback price is higher than the previous year's 15 billion yen.
Meanwhile, the mining and nonferrous metals company raised its forecast for the entire 2027 fiscal year due the expectation that copper and gold prices, as well as energy prices, will remain high, while demand for advanced materials for AI tech will stay solid.
The company expects its attributable profit will rise 23% year on year to 216 billion yen, with EPS of 803.95 yen. Higher than its forecast of 139 billion yen in attributable profit and EPS of 518.08 yen in May. Net sales are expected to climb 19% to 2.065 trillion yen for the entire fiscal year, higher than the previous outlook of 1.883 trillion yen.
Sumitomo Metal's shares jumped 12% at the close.



