Fast Retailing collected 3 trillion yen in the first three quarters; Uniqlo China's recovery trend confirmed.

Fast Retailing’s latest financial report reveals a clearer sign of recovery from the Chinese market.

On July 9th, Fast Retailing, the parent company of Uniqlo, released its performance for the nine months ending May 31, 2026.

In the first three quarters, Fast Retailing achieved revenue of 3.07 trillion yen, a year-on-year increase of 17.1%; operating profit was 592.7 billion yen, up 33.6% year-on-year; net profit attributable to the parent company was 426 billion yen, up 25.6% year-on-year.

For the main brand Uniqlo, overseas markets outside Japan remain the primary growth drivers.

In the first three quarters, overseas Uniqlo revenue was 1.83 trillion yen, up 25.9% year-on-year; all markets including North America, Europe, South Korea, Southeast Asia, India, and Australia recorded double-digit growth in both revenue and profit.

The continuity of recovery in the Chinese market has been confirmed. For the single third quarter, the Chinese mainland market within Greater China recorded revenue growth, double-digit profit growth, and growth in same-store net sales.

One year ago, the Chinese market was still a relatively pressured component of Fast Retailing’s global growth. In fiscal 2025, Fast Retailing’s Greater China revenue was 650.2 billion yen, down 4.0% year-on-year; operating profit was 89.9 billion yen, down 12.5% year-on-year.

Fast Retailing mentioned in its annual report that the Chinese mainland market, affected by the local economic and business environment, is shifting from a chain store management model to individual store management. The aim is to increase the precision of regional and single-store operations, reduce product mismatches and pressure from discounts.

Therefore, Uniqlo’s recovery in China this round cannot only be attributed to revived demand, but is also linked to synchronized adjustments in product, inventory, and store efficiency. Core product categories have regained momentum, inventory structure has improved, and inefficient stores and store management methods are being sorted out.

In its latest financial report, Fast Retailing spotlighted strong sales of EASY casual pants, UV-protection series, and UT series in the Chinese mainland.

Taking the UV-protection series as an example, in spring and summer 2026, Uniqlo expanded functional sun-protection products, extending related items to menswear, womenswear, children’s wear, and accessories. It launched lightweight sun-protection jackets using AIRism and DRY-EX materials to strengthen daily summer-wear scenarios.

Store operations are another main line of recovery.

For Greater China, which is close to a thousand stores, the marginal efficiency of continuing to add stores is declining. Uniqlo’s focus in China is shifting from “opening more stores” to “opening more efficient stores.”

As of the end of May, Uniqlo’s mainland China stores totaled 875, still its largest overseas regional market.

Fast Retailing’s management previously stated that the mainland China market needs to improve store quality, adjust stores that are less conveniently located, smaller in area, or have lower sales, and reopen in better locations with larger, more demonstrative stores.

Meanwhile, Uniqlo China is transitioning to more granular local operations: improving order accuracy based on different regions’ best sales timing, combining customer demand and employee feedback to develop sales plans for each store, thus improving discount rates and profitability.

Going forward, whether the Chinese market can continue to recover depends less on restarting rapid store openings, but more on whether core categories and high-quality stores can continuously increase single-store output.

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