One-glance verdict
Overvalued
$9.36 our estimate vs market $18.17
94% above our estimate, beyond the bull case
Fundamentals snapshot
Kirin Holdings Company, Limited
KNBWY · PNK · Consumer Defensive · Beverages - Brewers
Current price
$18.17
52-week range
$14.01 - $19.99
Market cap
$14.40B
Balance sheet
Watch
11.44x Adequate
Net debt $4.39B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
3 Risks
3 rewards · 3 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 4.1% last year.
- Reward Returns 15.1% on equity, ahead of 60% of its peers.
- Risk Stock trades 9463.5% above its 5-year average P/E.
- Risk Forward P/E (16.7x) is higher than trailing (11.5x) - earnings are expected to drop.
What this company does
Kirin Holdings Company, Limited
Kirin is a Japanese company best known for its beer, but it also operates in health and pharmaceuticals, selling everything from soft drinks to medical drugs. This broad mix of businesses is important because it means the company isn't solely dependent on beverage sales and can make money even if one part of its business has a slow year.
How the company got here
Kirin's story starts in 1885 with the Japan Brewery Company, founded by foreign residents in Japan. It launched its first "Kirin Beer" in 1888, using German brewing techniques and imported ingredients to focus on quality from the very beginning. In 1907, the company was taken over by Japanese investors and renamed Kirin Brewery Company, Limited. Over the next century, it grew into Japan's top brewer but later expanded into soft drinks, and eventually used its expertise in fermentation (the process that turns sugars into alcohol for beer) to enter the pharmaceuticals and health science fields.
What it actually does
Most people know Kirin for its beers, like Kirin Ichiban, which are sold worldwide. However, the company is much more than a brewery; it's a large holding company (a parent company that owns other companies) with a global presence. Beyond beer and other alcoholic drinks, Kirin makes and sells a wide variety of non-alcoholic beverages like teas and juices, pharmaceutical drugs for medical needs, and health products like supplements and cosmetics. It also operates restaurant chains and provides logistics (the business of transporting and storing goods) and other services.
Food & Beverages
This is Kirin's largest and original business, covering both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. It includes famous Japanese beer brands like Kirin Ichiban and Kirin Lager, as well as Australian beers like XXXX and Tooheys through its subsidiary (a company owned by a larger company) Lion. This segment also produces wine, spirits, and a huge range of soft drinks, such as the popular Gogo-no-Kocha bottled teas and Kirin Lemon soda. This part of the company makes money by selling these beverages to individual shoppers through stores and to restaurants and bars, forming the biggest piece of Kirin's overall business.
Pharmaceuticals
Leveraging its deep knowledge of biotechnology from brewing, Kirin operates a major pharmaceuticals business through its company Kyowa Kirin. This division develops and sells medicines for serious illnesses, focusing on areas like cancer, kidney disease, and immune system disorders. Doctors and hospitals are the main customers who pay for these prescription drugs. This segment represents a significant and distinct source of income for Kirin, separate from its beverage sales.
Health Science
This is Kirin's newest and fastest-growing business area, aimed at helping people stay healthy before they get sick. It includes well-known supplement brands like Blackmores in Australia and FANCL in Japan, which sell vitamins, minerals, and skincare products. This segment also produces specialized ingredients, like a unique type of lactic acid bacteria called LC-Plasma, which it sells to other food companies to add to their products. This business makes money by selling directly to consumers who are focused on their well-being and is a key part of the company's future growth plans.
What management is betting on now
Kirin's main strategy is to be a global leader in what it calls "CSV" (Creating Shared Value), which means growing the business by helping to solve social problems. The company is heavily focused on expanding its Health Science business, aiming to create a third major pillar of income alongside beverages and pharmaceuticals. Management believes that by using its core strength in fermentation and biotechnology, it can create new products that improve people's health and well-being. This involves investing in health food companies, developing new functional ingredients, and creating a business portfolio (a collection of different business activities) that supports people's health throughout their lives.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $9.36 vs current price $18.17
Our most-likely fair value is $9.36 a share — about 48.5% below today's price of $18.17, so the stock currently looks expensive (overvalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Watch
Net debt $4.4B. Interest coverage 11.4x.
Net debt
$4.39B
Interest coverage
11.44x
Kirin Holdings Company, Limited's profit covers its interest bill about 11.4 times over. which is stronger than most peers shown here.
Watch
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
KNBWY
BASELINE
Kirin Holdings Company, Limited
Total debt $5.49B Interest coverage 11.44x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $10.53B Interest coverage 7.92x -31% vs KNBWY Carries about 1.4x less debt cushion than KNBWY.
Total debt $7.91B Interest coverage 6.58x -43% vs KNBWY Carries about 1.7x less debt cushion than KNBWY.
Total debt $31.55M Interest coverage 15.28x +33% vs KNBWY Carries about 1.3x more debt cushion than KNBWY.
Total debt $22.20B Interest coverage 2.94x -74% vs KNBWY Carries about 3.9x less debt cushion than KNBWY.
What you should know
The case for and against KNBWY
3 Rewards
3 Risks
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 4.1% last year.
-
Returns 15.1% on equity, ahead of 60% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 4/10 years.
Risks
-
Stock trades 9463.5% above its 5-year average P/E.
-
Forward P/E (16.7x) is higher than trailing (11.5x) - earnings are expected to drop.
-
Net debt grew 85.6% over 3 years.
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
11.50x
Forward P/E
16.67x
P/B
1.69x
P/S
0.01x
EV/EBITDA
2.51x
PEG ratio
1.65x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
48.4%
Operating margin
12.5%
Net margin
7.8%
ROE
15.1%
ROA
5.5%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.50x
Current ratio
1.48x
Quick ratio
0.92x
Total debt
$5.49B
Total cash
$1.09B
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$16.36B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
6.9%
EPS TTM
1.58
EPS 5Y CAGR
10.5%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$1.58B
Free CF TTM
$404.99M
FCF margin
2.5%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
2.6%
Payout ratio
30.9%
Last ex-div date
2026-06-29