Buffett Brain · Research note
Score updated 29 Oct 2026 · analysis from 2 Jun 2026
MUFG· Financial Services
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
Mitsubishi UFJ is a cheap Japanese megabank at 13.8 times earnings, but a 0.6 percent return on capital tells you the price is the only thing working in your favor.
Buffett fit
Weak fit
Owner
41
Durability
100
Management
80
Price
94
Score updated 29 Oct 2026 · analysis from 2 Jun 2026
Buffett's checklist
Each number against Buffett's bar, and where it ranks among Financial Services stocks in our database.
How much profit the business makes on each dollar invested in it. Higher is better.
What is left of each sale after the cost of making the product. A high number often means pricing power.
The cash the business earns for its owners, compared with the price of the whole company.
How fast sales grew each year over the last five years.
How many years of today's profit you pay for at today's price. Lower means cheaper.
How much the company owes compared with what it owns outright. Lower is safer.
The four pillars
How the business measures up on each of Buffett's four tests.
If I owned all of MUFG, I would own a sprawling lending machine that earns a 24.2 percent but converts that into only a 0.6 percent trailing return on capital and 1.9 percent over five years.
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The durability of the franchise itself is real. The bank scored a perfect 100 on durability and has shown no single year of earnings collapse, with a maximum EPS decline of zero in the record I can see.
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Management earns reasonable marks at 80, and the share count has been shrinking at 2.9 percent a year, which is the kind of discipline I like to see when a stock is cheap.
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The here is entirely about price. At 13.8 times earnings, a 7.3 percent earnings yield, and an EV to of just 6.0, the market is asking very little for this business, which is why the valuation score is a high 94.
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For and against
The strongest points on each side, with the numbers behind them.
In its favor
6- 1Cheap on every honest yardstick, trading at 13.8 times earnings, a 7.3 percent earnings yield, and an EV to of only 6.0.
- 2Perfect durability score of 100 with a maximum EPS decline of zero, reflecting a franchise that does not crater.
- 3Reported revenue grew 28.4 percent and EPS 26.3 percent as Japanese interest rates turned positive after years near zero.
- 4Management is steadily retiring stock, with the share count shrinking 2.9 percent a year.
Concerns
7- 1Return on capital is dismal, just 0.6 percent trailing and 1.9 percent over five years, the heart of why the verdict is unclear despite the low price.
- 2The score of 41 is weak, banking is a commodity business where MUFG competes mainly on scale and has little real .
- 3 of 3.5 reflects the heavy leverage inherent to banking, which magnifies any credit or rate mistake.
- 4Interest coverage of just 0.58 underscores how thin the cushion is against the bank's own funding costs.
Price history
$21.46+289.5%· 5-year return
Weekly closing prices. Touch or hover the line for a date.
The business
How the business works
MUFG is one of Japan's three megabanks. It earns money the way every bank does, by taking in deposits cheaply and lending or investing them at a wider spread, then adding fees from trust banking, securities, and its large stake in Morgan Stanley. The 24.2 percent looks healthy on paper, and reported revenue has grown at a 28.4 percent clip as Japanese rates finally turned positive, but the underlying return on the capital it uses is thin at 0.6 percent.
How this analysis has moved
The call has held across 6 reviews.
Sep 27, 2026 → Oct 28, 2026
What other investors would say
The same company, judged by three other documented playbooks.
Keep researching
Similar companies in Financial Services
Questions about Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
- Is Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group undervalued?
- Would Buffett buy Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group?
- How strong is Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group's competitive advantage?
- Is Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group financially healthy?
- Is Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group's dividend safe?
- Is Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group halal?
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