CERES INC.
3696・Prime Market・Information & Communication
Business
Ceres Inc. is an internet marketing company established in 2005. Centered on "Moppy," one of Japan's largest point sites (6.48 million active members as of end-December 2025), the company operates diversified businesses including its proprietary affiliate program "AD.TRACK," a D2C (Cosmetics, Health Foods, etc.) business, the AI-powered factoring service for freelancers "labol," the crypto asset exchange "CoinTrade," and crypto asset exchange operations through its equity-method affiliate bitbank. Its main customers are point site users (general consumers), advertiser companies, freelance business operators, and crypto asset investors. The company is listed on the Prime Market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Business Model
Moppy's main revenue source is an affiliate advertising model in which a portion of the advertising fees received from advertisers is returned to members as points. Through collaboration with AD.TRACK, the company deals directly with advertisers, improving profit margins. It also operates a vertically integrated model that leverages this media strength to sell D2C (Cosmetics, Health Foods, etc.) products. In the Financial Services Business, revenue sources include invoice purchase fees (factoring), trading spreads, staking, and lending fees from the crypto-asset exchange, and investment returns from the Investment Development Business.
Company Strengths
As of the end of December 2025, Moppy's active membership reached 6.48 million (up 13.4% year on year), with cumulative app downloads of 6.79 million (up 20.9% year on year). The first large-scale brand awareness initiative succeeded, accelerating the pace of member growth. In addition, the acquisition of the "Point Income" business expanded the company's share of the domestic point media market.
In FY2025 (ending December 2025), Mobile Services Business net sales were ¥27,990 million (up 6.9% year on year), segment profit was ¥4,895 million (up 11.4% year on year), and the segment profit margin was 17.5%. Improved profitability driven by strengthened integration with AD.TRACK contributed to profit growth outpacing sales growth.
As of the end of FY2025 (ending December 2025), cash and cash equivalents stood at ¥13,114 million. The company has entered into overdraft and loan commitment agreements totaling ¥9,450 million with 11 partner banks, with outstanding borrowings of ¥4,738 million. The company maintains a stable funding base combining internal funds, borrowings, and bond issuance.
ENVALITH's Perspective
Performance Trend
Revenue over the past five fiscal years bottomed at ¥20,536 million in FY2022 and recovered to ¥29,660 million in FY2025. In Q1 of FY2026 (ending December 2026), revenue reached ¥9,521 million (up 23.9% year on year), operating profit was ¥1,731 million (up 101.2%), and EBITDA was ¥1,762 million (up 265.3%), showing accelerating improvement. The main drivers were expansion of Moppy's gross profit in the Mobile Services Business and margin improvement from AD.TRACK integration. Ordinary profit increased 342.8% to ¥1,561 million, also aided by a narrowing of equity-method investment losses (from ¥474 million to ¥147 million year on year). As an external factor, the slump in the cryptoasset market continues to affect the equity-method gains/losses from bitbank, but the scale of the loss is trending downward. There is no change to the full-year earnings forecast (revenue of ¥35,700 million and operating profit of ¥2,800 million).
Growth Strategy
The company aims to achieve net sales of ¥60,000 million by 2030 through deepening vertical integration centered on Moppy, establishing a presence in the blockchain domain, and pursuing non-linear growth via M&A.
The company has accelerated the pace of membership growth through the continued implementation of large-scale awareness campaigns (6.75 million members as of end-March 2026, up 14.4% year on year). Through strengthened integration with AD.TRACK, it has achieved a segment profit margin of 26.1%, and the company aims to maintain the virtuous cycle of membership base expansion leading to improved negotiating power with advertisers, which in turn leads to improved profit margins.
By horizontally deploying Moppy's operational know-how to Point Income, which was acquired via business transfer in the previous fiscal year, the company achieved revenue growth in the first quarter of FY2026 (ending December 2026). The strategy of expanding market share in the domestic point media market by operating multiple sites has proven successful.
Effective April 1, 2026, the company consolidated SQUIZ, which operates the online medical consultation service "Oops" series, as a subsidiary at an acquisition cost of ¥3,600 million. Through integration with Moppy's membership base and affiliate network, the company intends to further deepen its vertically integrated D2C model.
The AI-based factoring service for freelancers "labol" and the card payment service "labol Card Payment" have expanded their new user base, resulting in a substantial increase in Financial Services Business net sales of ¥647 million (up 297.3% year on year) in the first quarter of FY2026 (ending December 2026). The company is capturing the robust demand for freelancer financing as an external tailwind.
Pursuant to a resolution of the Board of Directors on April 30, 2026, the company plans to acquire up to 350,000 shares of treasury stock (upper limit) for up to ¥500 million (upper limit) during the period from May 1, 2026 to December 30, 2026. The objective is to improve capital efficiency and enhance shareholder returns.
Last updated: July 17, 2026