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Recruit Holdings Co.

RCRUY
76
Staffing & Employment Services · Industrials
Price
$20.07
-0.19 (-0.94%)
Market Cap
$140.11B
Exchange
Other OTC
Winston Score
76
Winston is happy
A high-quality business with solid fundamentals.
Data as of Aug 23, 2026 · filings through Jun 30, 2026
How the score breaks down
Quality
Exceptional
Growth
Exceptional
Cash Flow
Exceptional
Stability
Exceptional
Valuation
Weak
Dividends
Weak

Share count falling — buybacks

12.9% over 4y

The company has reduced its share count over this period, returning value to shareholders through buybacks.

Diluted shares outstanding: 8.21B (2022) → 7.15B (2026)

Winston Score History

The full picture

Recruit Holdings is a Japanese company that helps people find jobs and businesses find workers. Its most well-known product is Indeed, the world's largest job search website, which connects millions of job seekers with employers every day. The company also runs HR software platforms, real estate listing services, and travel booking sites, mainly in Japan and globally through its internet businesses.

Recruit makes money through a mix of employer subscriptions, pay-per-click job listings, and software licenses sold to businesses. It operates worldwide, with Indeed and Glassdoor giving it a dominant position in online job advertising — a market where scale and data create a strong competitive advantage. The company's high gross margin of roughly 59% reflects its shift toward software and digital platforms rather than traditional staffing. The main risk is that hiring slowdowns, like those seen in the tech sector in recent years, can quickly reduce employer spending on job ads and hurt revenue growth.

Growth Profile

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

+13.5% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Steady revenue growth

EPS Growth

+64.6% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

EPS growth accelerating

R&D Spend

¥0/ year

Declining (-100% vs prior year)

0.0% of revenue

Below sector average (4%)

R&D spend declining — could signal cost-cutting or efficiency

Insider Activity

80.4%ownership

Insiders own a meaningful stake in the company

Cash Position

Cash flow positive

¥867.0B cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↑ Burn rate improving

Company generates more cash than it spends — no dilution risk from fundraising

Growth + cash flow

Recruit Holdings Co. is a rare growth stock that's already generating positive cash flow while growing at 14%. The Winston Score doesn't fully credit this transition from "burner" to "earner."

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

Each metric is explained in plain language so you know exactly what you're looking at. Start your free trial now.

Quality

Profit per sale
Gross Margin
61.6%
Premium pricing power — 61.6% gross margin
Profit after running costs
Operating Margin
24.3%
Excellent — 24.3% operating margin
Return on the money invested
ROCE
43.2%
Exceptional — 43.2% return on capital

ROIC above 25%. Every dollar invested in the business earns more than 25 cents back per year.

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Growth

Sales growth
Sales YoY
+11.1%
Steady sales growth (+11.1% YoY)
Profit growth
EPS YoY
+45.7%
Earnings growing fast (+45.7% YoY)

Earnings growing 25%+ a year. The compounder zone.

How steady the profit is
EPS Consistency
8/8 quarters
Every recent quarter grew earnings vs last year

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Cash Flow

Profit that turns into cash
Cash Conversion
130%
Turns 130% of profit into real cash
Spare cash per sale
FCF Margin
19.2%
Converts sales into free cash efficiently (19.2%)

FCF margin between 10% and 20%. Every $100 in sales becomes $10 to $20 in real cash.

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Stability

What it owes vs what it owns
Debt / Equity
0.03
Conservative — low debt load (0.03)
Covers its interest
Interest Cover
73.01x
Comfortably covers interest (73.0x)

Interest coverage above 8. Profits cover interest many times over.

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Valuation

Price vs profit
P/E Ratio (TTM)
38.6x
Pricey — P/E 38.6

P/E over 35. The market is pricing in heavy, sustained growth.

Cheaper or dearer next year
P/E vs Forward
-1.4
SLOWING
Earnings expected to fall — forward P/E higher than today

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Dividends

Dividend
Dividend Yield
0.15%
Small dividend — 0.15% yield

Modest yield. The bulk of any return needs to come from price appreciation.

Dividend record
Dividend Growth
-24.3%
Dividend cut (-24.3% YoY) — warning sign

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