Mitsubishi, Mitsui and ITOCHU: The Houses Worth Nearly Twice as MuchNarrow moat

Sumitomo Corporation (8053) — moat facet

Sumitomo earns two-thirds as much as the big three trading houses and is valued at little more than half.

The three largest trading houses are each valued at 1.7 to 2.1 times Sumitomo: Mitsubishi at ¥17.62 trillion, ITOCHU at ¥15.94 trillion and Mitsui at ¥14.63 trillion, against Sumitomo's ¥8.51 trillion1234. Their trailing profits were ¥895.86 billion, ¥910.11 billion and ¥936.38 billion567, against Sumitomo's ¥619.05 billion8.

Trailing net income, September 2026 (¥ bn)936.4Mitsui & Co.910.1ITOCHU895.9Mitsubishi Corp.619.1Sumitomo Corp.stockanalysis, September 2026
Two-thirds of the profit of each of the big three.

The gap in value is larger than the gap in profit. Sumitomo earns about two-thirds of what each of them earns and is valued at between half and three-fifths9.

The three compete with Sumitomo for the same kinds of assets: power plants, leasing, real estate and consumer businesses. Their larger size and higher valuations give them more room to use their own shares or borrow.

The measure is the ratio of Sumitomo's value to its profit against theirs. A narrowing would say the market has stopped discounting Sumitomo's history.

Moat trajectory: Holding steady

The valuation gap is unchanged.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Trailing profit against the three largest houses
¥619.05bn against ¥895.86-936.38bn

Two-thirds of the profit, half the value; convergence would close the discount.

Source: Sumitomo Corporation market data (stockanalysis) ↗
References
  1. ReportedThe three largest trading houses are each valued at 1.7 to 2.1 times Sumitomo: Mitsubishi at ¥17.62 trillion, ITOCHU at ¥15.94 trillion and Mitsui at ¥14.63 trillion, against Sumitomo's ¥8.51 trillion.
    Mitsubishi Corporation (TYO: 8058) market data - market capitalisation 17.62T yen, trailing net income 895.86B yen, P/E 20.12, September 2026. — September 2026 · publ. 24 September 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedThe three largest trading houses are each valued at 1.7 to 2.1 times Sumitomo: Mitsubishi at ¥17.62 trillion, ITOCHU at ¥15.94 trillion and Mitsui at ¥14.63 trillion, against Sumitomo's ¥8.51 trillion.
    ITOCHU Corporation (TYO: 8001) market data - market capitalisation 15.94T yen, trailing net income 910.11B yen, P/E 17.77, September 2026. — September 2026 · publ. 24 September 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedThe three largest trading houses are each valued at 1.7 to 2.1 times Sumitomo: Mitsubishi at ¥17.62 trillion, ITOCHU at ¥15.94 trillion and Mitsui at ¥14.63 trillion, against Sumitomo's ¥8.51 trillion.
    Mitsui & Co. (TYO: 8031) market data - market capitalisation 14.63T yen, trailing net income 936.38B yen, P/E 15.75, September 2026. — September 2026 · publ. 24 September 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedThe three largest trading houses are each valued at 1.7 to 2.1 times Sumitomo: Mitsubishi at ¥17.62 trillion, ITOCHU at ¥15.94 trillion and Mitsui at ¥14.63 trillion, against Sumitomo's ¥8.51 trillion.
    Sumitomo Corporation (TYO: 8053) market data - share price ¥1,768.50, market capitalisation 8.51T yen, trailing net income 619.05B yen, P/E 13.90, forward P/E 12.62, dividend ¥40.00 (2.26%), September 2026. — September 2026 · publ. 24 September 2026 · source ↗
  5. ReportedTheir trailing profits were ¥895.86 billion, ¥910.11 billion and ¥936.38 billion, against Sumitomo's ¥619.05 billion.
    Mitsubishi Corporation (TYO: 8058) market data - market capitalisation 17.62T yen, trailing net income 895.86B yen, P/E 20.12, September 2026. — September 2026 · publ. 24 September 2026 · source ↗
  6. ReportedTheir trailing profits were ¥895.86 billion, ¥910.11 billion and ¥936.38 billion, against Sumitomo's ¥619.05 billion.
    ITOCHU Corporation (TYO: 8001) market data - market capitalisation 15.94T yen, trailing net income 910.11B yen, P/E 17.77, September 2026. — September 2026 · publ. 24 September 2026 · source ↗
  7. ReportedTheir trailing profits were ¥895.86 billion, ¥910.11 billion and ¥936.38 billion, against Sumitomo's ¥619.05 billion.
    Mitsui & Co. (TYO: 8031) market data - market capitalisation 14.63T yen, trailing net income 936.38B yen, P/E 15.75, September 2026. — September 2026 · publ. 24 September 2026 · source ↗
  8. ReportedTheir trailing profits were ¥895.86 billion, ¥910.11 billion and ¥936.38 billion, against Sumitomo's ¥619.05 billion.
    Sumitomo Corporation (TYO: 8053) market data - share price ¥1,768.50, market capitalisation 8.51T yen, trailing net income 619.05B yen, P/E 13.90, forward P/E 12.62, dividend ¥40.00 (2.26%), September 2026. — September 2026 · publ. 24 September 2026 · source ↗
  9. Moat Explorer calcSumitomo earns about two-thirds of what each of them earns and is valued at between half and three-fifths.
    Moat Explorer calculation from Sumitomo Corporation's reported figures. Per-share figures divided by four for the 1 July 2026 split: EPS 499.09 / 4 = 124.77, 463.66 / 4 = 115.92; DPS 150 / 4 = 37.5. Trailing twelve months to June 2026: profit 600.3 - 170.9 + 190.1 = 619.5; revenue 7,337.3 - 1,787.9 + 1,949.4 = 7,498.8; EPS 124.77 - 35.29 + 39.95 = 129.43. Market value at March year-ends (close x shares issued, including treasury shares): 1,118.5 x 1,250.6m = ¥1,399bn (2016), 5,780 x 1,211.4m = ¥7,002bn (2026); P/E 1,399 / 74.5 = 18.8 and 7,002 / 600.3 = 11.7. Trailing P/E 8.51 trillion / 619.5 billion = 13.7; P/S 8.51 / 7.4988 = 1.13. Revenue by region, year to March 2026: Japan 2,840,605 / 7,337,259 = 38.7%; United States 1,391,341 / 7,337,259 = 19.0%. Equity-method profit over profit before tax: 266.7 / 702.0 = 38%. Mineral share of underlying profit: 99 / 524 = 19%. Profit growth over two years: 600.3 / 386.4 = 1.55. Profit against the plan target: 630.0 / 650.0 = 97%. Lifestyle and corporate band: 14.1 - 4.5 = 9.6 (2025) and -3.6 + 33.5 = 29.9 (2026). Largest four segments, year to March 2026: 102.4 + 88.9 + 82.3 + 81.5 = 355.1, 59% of 600.3. Berkshire market value over cost: 4,022 / 1,907 = 2.1 times; dividends on cost 102 / 1,907 = 5.3%. SCSK premium: 5,700 / 4,359 - 1 = 30.8%. Share count since 2013: 1,195.1m pre-split equivalent against 1,250.6m = -4.4%. Buyback: 47.65m shares against 4,780.5m issued = 1.0%. Q1 progress: 190.1 / 630.0 = 30%. Segment return on assets, year to March 2026: Energy Transformation 102.4 / 1,977.8 = 5.2%; Steel 74.3 / 1,199.5 = 6.2%; Automotive 63.2 / 861.7 = 7.3%; Transportation & Construction Systems 88.9 / 1,874.9 = 4.7%; Diverse Urban Development 81.5 / 1,792.9 = 4.5%; Media & Digital 51.2 / 1,492.7 = 3.4%; Mineral Resources 82.3 / 2,463.7 = 3.3%; Chemical Solutions 26.5 / 942.7 = 2.8%. Dividend per share, split-adjusted: 70 / 4 = 17.5 (2021) to 150 / 4 = 37.5 (2026) and 40 forecast; 37.5 / 17.5 = 2.1 times. Commercial Aviation underlying: 38.7 / 19.7 = 1.96 times. Eight growth areas: 382.7 / 279.9 - 1 = 36.7%. Low-ROIC capital: ¥3.0 bn / ¥1 trillion = 0.3%. Commercial Aviation forecast increase: 38.7 - 19.7 = 19.0; 19.0 / 330 = 5.8%. SCSK charge against comprehensive income: 722.7 / 1,029.6 = 70%. SCSK price rise: (5,700 - 5,050) x 154.7m = ¥100.6bn. Construction systems margin: 18.8 / 718.3 = 2.6%. Planned investment raised from 1.8 to 3.0 trillion = +67%. Low-return plus asset-turnover capital: (1.0 + 0.7) / 9.44 = 18%. Eight growth areas forecast increase: 382.7 - 305.0 = 77.7, against 15.0 added in the latest year. Forecast dividends over forecast profit: 191.0 / 630.0 = 30.3%. Value against the big three: 8.51 / 17.62 = 0.48, 8.51 / 14.63 = 0.58; their value over Sumitomo's 1.72-2.07; profit 619.05 / 936.38 = 0.66 and 619.05 / 895.86 = 0.69. Low-ROIC capital against total invested capital: 1.0 / 9.44 = 10.6%. — FY to March 2026 · publ. September 2026 · source ↗
    Method: Arithmetic on figures reported in Sumitomo Corporation's results, presentations, annual financial report and market data; operands shown in the source line.
Sources
Generated September 24, 2026