The market value of Fast Retailing, the Japan parent company of clothing chain Uniqlo, hit $107.7 billion as of Thursday's close of trading, positioning it at the top of the world apparel industry in terms of market capitalization.
Shares of Fast Retailing were up 4.58% Thursday, making the company the largest contributor to the Nikkei.
Fast Retailing made $22 billion in 2019 with 83% under Uniqlo. Based on first quarter results for the current year, Fast Retailing predicts a total turnover of $21 billion for its fiscal year ending August.
For the first time, Uniqlo has surpassed Zara parent Inditex, which has a market value of $99 billion, according to Nikkei Asia. In terms of inventory turnover, Fast Retailing's index in the last quarter is below 1.5, while Inditex's is 2%.
Uniqlo is now the No. 1 fashion brand in China, with far more reach in that market compared to its rivals: 800 branches in the mainland compared with H&M's 500 stores. Zara has around 200.
Alongside their efforts in putting premium to physical branches in strategic markets like Japan and China, stakeholders have also valued Fast Retailing's continuous push in adopting digital technology.
Fast Retailing has collaborated with big-name companies such as Google and other major internet groups to develop a dominating manufacturing infrastructure using artificial intelligence.
While 60% of Uniqlo's shops are located in Asia, where retail is recovering at a faster momentum compared to countries in the West, only about a quarter of Zara's store chains is in the continent.
In the last fiscal year, Fast Retailing's operating margin in China, a region that includes Taiwan and Hong Kong, was at 14.5%, up from 13% in Japan.
With China estimated to beat the U.S. as the top apparel market by 2023, Uniqlo has a strong start in the competition.
