Shimano’s bicycle components business doubled its operating profit in the third quarter, but the company’s own-currency figures show the weaker yen drove all of this year’s sales growth.
- In results published on 27 October 2026, July to September bike component sales rose 14.3% to Â¥97.0 billion, and segment operating profit rose from Â¥6.5 billion to Â¥13.4 billion. The quarter’s margin was 13.8%, against 7.7% a year earlier.
- Over the first nine months, bike component sales rose 4.6% to Â¥278.4 billion and operating profit rose 10.9% to Â¥33.4 billion. Shimano’s profit bridge credits cost reductions and lower overheads, while lower bike sales volume and currency each took a small amount off.
- Shimano now expects full-year bike component sales of ¥371.5 billion, ¥16.5 billion more than in 2025. Its currency table says the weaker yen adds ¥16.9 billion to those sales, so in constant currency the bike business is flat.
- Europe, which takes more than half of Shimano’s bike sales, is forecast to grow 0.3% in the second half. China (up 24.6%) and the smaller Asian and Latin American markets (up 50.8%) carry the second-half growth, while Japan falls 8.4%.
- Shimano says retail sales of complete bikes stayed solid in Europe, with dealer stock improving in Germany. North American retail was weak because tariffs have kept bike prices “stubbornly high”, although stock there is at an appropriate level. Stock in Asia and Latin America is still “somewhat high”.
- Group guidance rises to ¥495.5 billion in sales (from ¥491 billion) and ¥54.3 billion in operating profit (from ¥47 billion). Shimano gives two reasons: demand recovering as stock clears in Europe and China, and cheaper Asian currencies at its factories.
- Net profit rose 148.5% for the nine months mainly because last year’s figure included an Â¥18.4 billion foreign exchange loss, compared with Â¥1.7 billion this year.
What it means for industry watchers
The stock glut that followed the pandemic boom is clearing, and Shimano now describes dealer inventory as normal or improving in Europe, China and North America. That has restored profit faster than sales: the bike margin forecast for 2026 is 11.5%, well above last year’s third quarter but less than half the 28% Shimano earned in 2021 and 2022.
Demand itself is not growing yet. Remove the currency effect and bike component sales are flat for the year; Europe is static, and Shimano forecasts a 25% drop in fourth-quarter bike profit. Part of that comparison is a one-off: Shimano notes that 2025’s fourth quarter included about Â¥3 billion of one-time gains from a pension accounting change. The products Shimano names as selling well are XTR, DEORE XT, DEORE and Q’AUTO, its self-powered automatic shifting.
Quick answers
Is Shimano's bike business growing again?
In yen, yes, up 4.7% in 2026, by forecast. Shimano’s own figures show a weaker yen adds slightly more than that, so in constant currency bike component sales are flat.
Why did Shimano's net profit jump 148%?
Mostly a weak comparison. The first nine months of 2025 carried an ¥18.4 billion foreign exchange loss, against ¥1.7 billion in 2026, and operating profit also rose 21.8%.
Related: Garmin’s Q3 financials and why Garmin prices could rise in 2027.
Last Updated on 2 November 2026 by tfk the5krunner
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tfk is the founder and author of the5krunner, an independent endurance sports technology publication. With 20 years of hands-on testing of GPS watches and wearables, and competing in triathlons at an international age-group level, tfk provides in-depth expert analysis of fitness technology for serious athletes and endurance sport competitors. See the gear tfk uses. ID
