Uniqlo, a brand run under Fast Retailing in Japan, has surpassed Inditex to become the top global apparel brand in terms of market cap. Inditex runs the world-known brand Zara.
As per the latest report, Uniqlo’s valuation has reached $103 billion after the end of Tuesday’s trading, whereas Zara’s valuation stands at $99 billion.
Why Did Fast Retailing Market Cap Grew? What about Revenue?
This is the first time Uniqlo dethroned Zara’s parent company from the top spot. Uniqlo is growing steadily from the month of August. It is expected that their valuation will show further growth in the future. Fast Retailing share has grown continuously in the last straight seven sessions including Tuesday. The company saw a total growth of 3% in its share on Tuesday. The share closed at a value of 102500 yen. This is also the first time when the share surpassed 100000 yen value.
If we talk about the revenue, Fast Retailing occupies the 3rd position with a total of $18.9 billion of revenue. Inditex stands strong at the first position with total revenue of $34.1 billion.
Sweden’s retail brand H&M ranks 2nd with total revenue of $22.5 billion. It should also be noted that these three companies’ fiscal year ends in different months on the basis of the origin of the firm.
In the last concluded quarter, Inditex reported an income of $1 billion, 60% more than the Fast Retailing profit of $680 million.
Fast Retailing also saw a good response to its digital initiatives started in 2016. The company initiated an online customer retailing concept. It includes data analysis of online purchases. The company tracked this data through the IC tags attached with apparel. For such an artificial intelligence-enabled platform, the company started the partnership with Google and other tech providers.
Why Is Fast Retailing Growing?
Recently, Fast Retailing demand has increased in the Asia continent. After the pandemic slowdown, shareholders’ focus is on the Asian market. Among Asian countries, China market is expecting good growth due to covid 19 control. In October 2019, Uniqlo also started its operation in India.
The apparel industry is also focusing more on casual wear. A trend to wearing casual apparel has raised since 2020.
Fast Retailing has a global presence with a total of 2298 Uniqlo stores. The majority of those stores are located in Asia. As per the latest record, around 60% of Uniqlo stores exist in Asia outside of Japan. China brings the maximum revenue with 815 stores in 791 locations.
70% of Zara outlets are based in the US and Europe. Zara’s business got affected due to the multiple lockdowns in Europe and US.it has 20% of stores in Asian countries where lockdown restrictions are eased.
In the last fiscal year ending in August, Fast Retailing’s operating margin stood at 14.4% in China including Hong Kong and Taiwan. This operating margin is more than Japan’s 13%.
Inditex manufactures its clothing in Spain. It helps companies to send the apparel easily to everyone around the world with air cargo. Zara clothing finishes within a limited span of time due to good demand. It also sells clothing without any discounts. These two factors play a key role in Inditex’s profit surge.
Credit Suisse Securities (Japan) analyst Takahiro Kazahaya believes that Fast Retailing will bring more business due to the shopping increase in the Asian market. Fast Retailing revenue will surge in the long term.
Inditex is also strengthening its base in Asia. It has a total of 467 stores in China. Recently, the company opened its largest retail store in China covering 3000 square meters.
