Fast Retailing shares slide in Tokyo after Uniqlo operator's results, yen warning

By Rocky Swift and Noriyuki Hirata

TOKYO, July 10 (Reuters) - Shares in the Japanese owner of clothing brand Uniqlo slid sharply on Friday after the company raised its profit forecast but warned about the impact of the weak yen.

Fast Retailing slid as much as 5.1% in early Tokyo trading. After the bell on Thursday, the company announced it was lifting its guidance for full-year operating profit to a record 730 billion yen ($4.50 billion).

The company's shares have had a blistering run, up more than 42% so far in 2026.

"The share price has risen over roughly the past three months, so a sense of the good news being priced in seems to have emerged, but bargain-hunting buying may eventually come in," said Jun Kitazawa, Deputy Manager, Investment Information Section at Miki Securities.

While reporting strong results in the nine months through May, Fast Retailing CFO Takeshi Okazaki warned that depreciation in the yen, languishing near a 40-year low, was expected to drag on sales and profit in Japan in the fourth quarter.

The currency's slide "could potentially have a significant impact on our performance," Okazaki said.

($1 = 162.3100 yen)

(Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)