ENVALITH
株式会社リクルートホールディングス logo

Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd.

6098・Prime Market・Services

Official website
株式会社リクルートホールディングス logo
Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd.6098

Business

Recruit Holdings, founded in 1960, operates marketplace businesses that connect individual users and corporate clients using technology and data across more than 60 countries and regions worldwide. The company has three segments: the HR Technology Segment (Indeed, Glassdoor, etc.), the Staffing Segment (Japan, Europe, US, Australia), and the Marketing, Matching & Technology Segment (SUUMO, HotPepper Beauty, etc.), with job seekers, hiring companies, consumers, and store operators as its primary customer base. The company's core strategy centers on improving matching accuracy and automating the recruitment process by leveraging AI and proprietary data, driving its evolution from an internet advertising business into a solution provider.

Business Model

The business is built on a marketplace model that aggregates both individual users and corporate clients. In the HR Technology Segment, revenue is generated through pay-for-performance or subscription-based recruitment solutions. The Staffing Segment operates on a labor-intensive model in which staffing fees are recognized continuously based on the working hours of dispatched staff. The Marketing, Matching & Technology segment offers plans tiered by expected number of actions, while also progressing toward a GMV-linked revenue model, starting with the beauty field.

Company Strengths

As of March 2026, Indeed is the world's largest job site by comScore visits, with over 665 million email-verified job seeker profiles and 3.5 million client companies using it annually. This scale of data assets forms an entry barrier that is difficult for competitors to replicate in a short period.

The Marketing, Matching & Technology Segment holds 98.65 million Recruit ID accounts, with a cross-usage rate across verticals exceeding three-quarters. The number of individual user actions expanded from approximately 190 million in FY2017 to approximately 400 million in FY2025, with the robust user base supporting revenue growth.

In FY2026 (ending March 2026), ROE reached 31.0%, and EBITDA+S reached ¥794,300 million (up 17.0% year on year). The company maintains high credit ratings of A from S&P, AA from R&I, and AA+ from Japan Credit Rating Agency, and has secured a ¥200 billion commitment line and a shelf registration for bond issuance. Backed by strong cash generation capability, the company carried out share repurchases totaling ¥678,700 million.

ENVALITH's Perspective

Operating profit for FY2026 (ending March 2026) was ¥630,567 million (up 28.5% year on year), with operating margin improving substantially to 17.1% (versus 13.8% in the previous period). The HR Technology Segment's EBITDA+S margin reached 37.7%, reflecting the success of efficiency measures including personnel cost reductions. Even amid a stagnant hiring environment in the US, monetization evolution achieved 17% growth in average unit price in the US, demonstrating the platform's strong pricing power. The operating profit forecast of ¥787,000 million (+24.8%) for FY2027 (ending March 2027) continues to assume a high growth rate.

Revenue from operations in Japan for the HR Technology Segment declined 4.6% year on year (down 3.2% in US dollar terms) in FY2026 (ending March 2026), widening the growth disparity across regions. While monetization evolution has been offsetting continued sluggish hiring demand in the US, there is a risk that a prolonged deterioration in the US labor market could cause a decline in job listings that offsets unit price growth. The FY2027 (ending March 2027) earnings forecast assumes that no drastic changes occur in the economic environment, indicating high sensitivity to a macro deterioration scenario.

Expenditure on share buybacks in FY2026 (ending March 2026) reached ¥678,754 million (financing cash flow), and the cash and cash equivalents balance at period-end declined from ¥808,625 million to ¥725,578 million. As a subsequent event, a further buyback with an upper limit of ¥350,000 million has already been resolved for execution from April 2026 onward. Under the capital allocation policy, strategic M&A centered on the HR Technology Segment is stated to take priority over share buybacks; however, the continued decline in cash balance could affect capacity to execute large-scale M&A, and investors should closely monitor developments.

Growth Strategy

Expanding share in the global HR matching market through three strategies: Simplify Hiring, Help Businesses Work Smarter, and Prosper Together

Promoting automation of the hiring process leveraging AI and machine learning centered on Indeed and Glassdoor. Achieved a 17% growth rate in average unit price in the US, driving revenue growth even amid stagnant hiring demand. New features such as Indeed Smart Screening have reduced average time-to-hire by 20%. For FY2027 (ending March 2027), the HR Technology Segment targets revenue of ¥1,653,700 million (+13.4%) and an EBITDA+S margin of 41.0%.

Effective April 1, 2025, the HR domain of the Matching & Solutions Segment was transferred to the HR Technology Segment, strengthening the integrated operation of group HR-related businesses. All domestic job boards except Recruit Navi have joined Indeed PLUS. Progress is also being made on improving resume screening efficiency through AI utilization at Recruit Agent.

In the Marketing, Matching & Technology (MMT) Segment, the GMV-linked revenue model is being rolled out in stages from the beauty field to multiple verticals. The number of individual user actions expanded to approximately 400 million in FY2025. For FY2027 (ending March 2027), the MMT Segment targets revenue of ¥605,000 million (+7.1%) and an EBITDA+S margin of 30.0% (+2.6pt year on year).

Introducing the group's proprietary matching engine into the staffing process to improve retention rates among temporary staff and promote automation of manual processes. For FY2027 (ending March 2027), revenue growth is expected of ¥5,800 million in Japan (+3.1%) and 8.5% growth overseas. The EBITDA+S margin is expected to decline slightly to 5.6% (from 5.9% in the previous fiscal year), prioritizing scale expansion.

The company is on track to achieve carbon neutrality in business activities for five consecutive fiscal years starting from FY2022 (ended March 2022). Selected for the CDP Climate Change A List for three consecutive years. The company aims to help a cumulative 30 million job seekers facing barriers to employment find work by FY2031 (ending March 2031), having achieved a cumulative total of approximately 18.8 million as of the end of FY2026 (ended March 2026).

Last updated: July 19, 2026