4377 ONE CAREER

ONE CAREER runs a site where students read verified reviews of company interviews before job hunting. Around two-thirds of graduating students use it, and revenue grew 47% last quarter.

▲ Fewer graduates each year means companies fight harder and pay more per hire. Subscription use by employers is rising and guided higher.  ▼ The pool of students shrinks every year, and AI career assistants could answer students' questions before they ever visit the site.

Over 700,000 first-person interview reviews sit behind a login wall, so competitors and general AI tools cannot copy them. The business keeps over 30% of sales as operating profit.

▲ An AI assistant is only as good as its data. ONE CAREER's own AI answers questions using the review database only it holds.  ▼ If students start with an AI assistant instead of the site, ONE CAREER becomes a data supplier to someone else's product — a much worse position.

Founder Miyashita controls 57% of votes. The company set a target in February 2026 of paying out 30% of profit as dividends, and its ¥6.76bn of cash is going into acquisitions, most recently Kids Corporation.

▲ Two dividend raises in three months, a stated payout target, and Kids Corporation bought at a sensible price — about five times its cash earnings.  ▼ Kids Corporation earns 11% margins, far below the core 30%. There is no buyback, no cash ceiling, and the founder sold about 630,000 shares in 2025.

The business sells for 9.0 years of operating profit. Its capital earns 38.4%. Net cash is 19.8% of the market cap; 29.4% of profit goes out as dividends. Today's dividend yield is 1.9%. If the company paid out all of its profit, the yield at today's price would be 6.3% — past the 6% level where Japanese small caps tend to find buyers. Raising the payout 10 points a year would reach 6% in about 6.6 years. At the current payout, the cash pile alone equals today's market cap in about 18.0 years. How this valuation floor works →