ASO INTERNATIONAL, INC.

Business Details

The company custom-manufactures and supplies over 100 types of orthodontic dental appliances, including aligners, I.D.B.S, and retainers, to dental clinics, university dental hospitals, and other dental institutions nationwide. It maintains a flexible manufacturing system combining in-house production and outsourcing, and is advancing manufacturing DX through 3D printers and CAD. The company also sells digital products such as intraoral scanners and 3D printers. It focuses on deepening relationships with existing client dental institutions and expanding orders, as well as raising the order value per client clinic.

Recent Overview

Increased sales and profit in cumulative Q3, with sales up 8.5% and operating profit up 11.7%

In the cumulative third quarter of FY2026 (ending June 2026) (July 2025 to March 2026), sales were ¥3,057 million (up 8.5% year on year), operating profit was ¥509 million (up 11.7%), ordinary profit was ¥519 million (up 20.4%), and quarterly net profit was ¥366 million (up 19.3%), exceeding the prior-year period on all profit line items. Sales were driven by solid trends in digital orthodontic dental appliances, promotion of sales of products such as 3D printers, and steady growth in overseas sales. On the cost side, rising personnel expenses and higher overseas procurement costs due to yen depreciation continued, but these were absorbed by improved production efficiency and increased orders for high-value-added products. The narrowing of foreign exchange losses, which had been large in the prior-year period (from ¥27,728 thousand in the prior-year period to ¥6,817 thousand in the current period), also contributed to the significant improvement in ordinary profit. There has been no change to the full-year earnings forecast (sales of ¥4,013 million, operating profit of ¥746 million); as of the end of Q3, progress against the full-year forecast stood at 76.2% for sales and 68.3% for operating profit.

Key Products

Growth Drivers

• Continued solid demand for digital orthodontic dental appliances (such as AsoAligner DIGITAL) and 3D-printed products
• Higher order value per client clinic through enhanced proposals of products compatible with intraoral scanners, 3D printers, and other digital products
• Deepening relationships with existing client dental institutions and expanding orders (continued provision of a diverse range of dental appliances to dental clinics, university dental hospitals, and other institutions)
• Expansion of overseas sales through strengthened sales channels in the U.S. mainland (University of California San Francisco (UCSF), University of Texas, Boston University, etc.)
• A solid business environment in the orthodontic dentistry industry, driven by rising aesthetic awareness and expanding efforts toward preventive health improvement
• Reduction of operating costs and improved profit margins through manufacturing DX (ongoing DX promotion within the group)
• Improved operational efficiency through the rebuilding of the online ordering system (a second-year initiative under the FY2025-2028 Medium-Term Management Plan)

Risks

• Medium- to long-term risk of shrinking domestic manufacturing capacity due to the aging of dental technicians and declining interest among younger workers
• Pressure on profits from continued high levels of manufacturing costs, including material costs, labor costs, and outsourced processing costs
• Risk of rising procurement costs for overseas raw materials and supplies due to the continuation of yen depreciation (a foreign exchange loss of ¥6,817 thousand was recorded in the cumulative third quarter)
• Risk of delayed overseas expansion, including into the U.S. mainland, as the overseas sales ratio remains at a low level
• Geopolitical risks (the prolonged situation in Ukraine and worsening conditions in the Middle East) leading to higher resource and energy prices and economic uncertainty
• Risk of slowing market growth as a reaction to the surge in demand seen in 2020-2022 (the market is currently in a stable growth phase)
• Progress on operating profit against the full-year forecast stood at only 68.3% as of the end of Q3, requiring a recovery in the fourth quarter