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| Casio has been releasing a lot of themed vintage retro watches lately, which has been driving a lot of growth for the company. Pictured - the new A159WEVJ watches. |
If someone told you two years ago that Casio would be doubling its net profit in 2026, you’d probably have laughed. The iconic Japanese electronics brand had been struggling with lackluster sales, an aging product image, and the kind of quiet decline that makes investors nervous. Well, laugh no more.
Casio just released its fiscal year 2026 earnings, and the results are genuinely surprising – not just in a “beat expectations by a few percentage points” way, but in a “what on earth happened?” kind of way.
Let’s get the headline numbers out of the way. Net profit came in at ¥18.2 billion (roughly 1.74 billion), and operating profit jumped a staggering 62% to ¥23.1 billion (~$146 million). For a company that was posting pretty dismal numbers just 24 months ago, this is nothing short of a huge turnaround.
But the real story here isn’t just the numbers. It’s what drove them.
It’s Not (Just) the G-Shock
You’d be forgiven for assuming that Casio’s rugged, indestructible G-Shock line was leading the charge. After all, it’s arguably the brand’s most recognizable product. G-Shocks are still doing just fine – pulling their own weight and then some. They remain a staple for military enthusiasts, construction workers, and anyone who’s ever dropped a watch down a flight of stairs.
But the real engine behind this explosive growth? The “Casio Watch” line. You know the ones: thin, lightweight, retro digital and analog models that were never supposed to be cool again.
We’re talking about watches like the A159 and the MTP-1302 – the kind of timepieces you’d find on your dad’s wrist in the early ‘90s or sitting in a clearance bin at a department store. These watches typically cost no more than 70. They have no Bluetooth, no heart-rate sensors, no solar charging. They just… tell time. And apparently, that’s exactly what a new generation of buyers wants.
Younger consumers – particularly Gen Z and younger millennials – have gone all-in on the whole “vintage” aesthetic. And nothing says analog-era authenticity quite like a $60 Casio that looks like it stepped out of a John Hughes movie.
How Casio’s Korea Strategy Changed Everything
Here’s where it gets interesting. Casio didn’t just get lucky. They actually executed a smart, region-specific social media strategy – starting in South Korea.
According to market observers, Casio’s Korean social media team leaned hard into nostalgia-driven content, collaborating with local influencers and leaning into the “silent protagonist” watch trend (think minimalist, quiet luxury before that phrase became overused). The campaign caught on faster than anyone expected. Suddenly, young Koreans were posting their retro Casio purchases alongside vintage clothing, film cameras, and analog audio gear.
That demand didn’t stay in Korea. It spread across the region – to Japan, to Southeast Asia, and eventually to Western markets where TikTok and Instagram reels amplified the trend. By the time Casio’s global marketing team realized what was happening, the A159 was backordered for weeks.
For anyone tracking the numbers, you can dig into the full financial breakdown yourself. Casio has published three official documents: the financial results summary (PDF), the supplementary data (PDF), and the earnings presentation (PDF). If you’re a numbers person, the supplementary data is particularly worth a look – it breaks down revenue by region and product category in detail.
Watch Business Carried the Load – and Then Some
Unsurprisingly, the watch division was the star of the show. The watch business overall pulled in ¥185 billion (~100 timepieces.
But here’s the wrinkle. Demand in the third quarter of FY2026 was so unexpectedly strong that popular G-Shock models – not just the retro cheapies – actually went out of stock in Q4. Casio scrambled with emergency production increases, but those could only partially cover the gap. To be fair, that’s a good problem to have. Running out of stock because people suddenly want your products again? Most consumer electronics brands would trade an arm for that kind of “problem.”
Still, it deserves an explicit mention. Casio left money on the table in the final quarter. How much? Hard to say, but analysts estimate that stronger G-Shock inventory alone could have added another 2-3% to watch division revenue.
What’s Next for Casio?
Looking ahead, management isn’t resting on its laurels. Casio is projecting ¥295 billion (~$1.86 billion) in revenue for the current fiscal year – about a 6.8% increase from FY2026. That’s modest but realistic, especially given the production constraints they just experienced.
More ambitious is their long-term target: Casio is aiming for an operating margin of 11.1% by 2029. That would be a significant leap from the 8.4% margin they posted this year (operating profit divided by revenue – ¥23.1B / ¥276.3B = ~8.4%). To get there, they’ll need to keep the retro momentum going while also fixing the supply chain issues that plagued G-Shock in Q4.
They’ll also need to avoid the classic trap of “milking the trend.” Retro is hot now, but nostalgia cycles are fickle. One day the A159 is a must-have; the next day it’s just an old digital watch again. Casio seems aware of this – they’re quietly investing in higher-end G-Shock models (the MR-G and MT-G lines) and exploring limited collaborations with streetwear brands. Smart money says they’ll try to straddle both worlds: cheap vintage for the TikTok crowd, premium rugged for the collectors.
The Bottom Line
Casio’s FY2026 earnings are a genuine comeback story. A legacy brand that many had written off as “that company that makes calculators and cheap watches” just posted its best profitability in nearly a decade. And it did so not by launching a smartwatch or chasing Apple – but by rediscovering its own forgotten product line and letting a social media trend in South Korea do the heavy lifting.
Will it last? That’s the billion-yen question. But for now, Casio is back on the map. And honestly? It’s about time.
Disclosure: The author owns a Casio A158 (the slightly smaller cousin of the A159) and has no plans to replace it.