Northsand, Inc. (446A) Stock Price

North Sand is a comprehensive consulting firm that operates primarily through IT consulting and business consulting. The company is guided by its mission to "increase cool companies," and provides services that combine meticulous support emphasizing strong interpersonal skills with implementation assistance for Notion, an information-sharing tool.

The company's clients are centered on major domestic enterprises across diverse industries including insurance, finance, telecommunications, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, distribution, and real estate. Revenue is generated primarily through the consulting business segment, derived from implementation support on a project basis and long-term projects. The customer base is growing, reaching 179 companies as of January 2025, and the company has achieved strong sales growth in recent years.

The business consists of three main pillars: IT consulting, business consulting, and Notion services. On the IT side, the company provides support ranging from medium-term planning and architecture design to operations and cost reduction. In non-IT areas, it offers business improvement and execution support for marketing and human resources. For Notion, it provides comprehensive support from license provision through implementation design and operational adoption.

The company has placed three key metrics at the center of its growth strategy: "headcount expansion," "utilization rate maintenance," and "average unit price improvement," using these to objectively manage business progress. Medium- to long-term management targets were established in June 2025, with consultant headcount increased to 940 as of January 2025, and the company aims to continue similar levels of expansion going forward. The utilization rate has remained above 90% since the company's founding, and operating margin has continued to improve in recent years (from 7.0% in the January 2023 period to 19.4% in the January 2026 interim period). The company is pursuing a strategy to further enhance profitability through unit price improvements and economies of scale.

The company prioritizes investment in "recruitment and development" and "customer experience enhancement." On the recruitment side, the company emphasizes hiring talent aligned with its values and has strengthened partnerships with talent agencies. The number of partner agencies increased from 127 to 225 to 312 across 2023, 2024, and 2025, while candidate referrals from agencies grew from 3,631 to 10,401 to 16,110 over the same period. For development, the company has established concrete training programs including position-specific training, on-site mentoring, and internal job posting opportunities (the Quest system), achieving employee retention by maintaining turnover below 10% for five consecutive periods. The company differentiates itself through careful service delivery based on a "fan-building cycle" and speed-focused service (such as letter-style proposals and attentive on-site support), building trust relationships that lead to contract renewals and additional orders.

For new market development and business expansion, the company is deepening its existing large customer base while pursuing cross-industry order growth. Customer count increased to 179 companies as of January 2025, and revenue from customers with continuing contracts since before 2022 grew 52.2% over the 2023-2025 period, with recurring revenue supporting the earnings foundation. Operationally, the company has separated sales and consulting functions with dedicated account management, and has reorganized the consulting division into multiple units to strengthen large-scale projects and new proposals, pursuing growth through both new business development and large account cultivation.

Regarding technological innovation, the company is strengthening support for cloud migration, system modernization, and digital transformation, centered on IT consulting and business process improvement. Implementation support for operational platforms including Notion is provided end-to-end, from licensing through design and operational adoption, with internal knowledge accumulated through dedicated channels (#Knowledge Help). Aligned with market research forecasts, the company aims to enhance its capability to address AI adoption and digitalization needs, improving average unit prices and strengthening competitiveness through high-value service delivery. The company is also strengthening internal management systems and diversifying funding options as needed, supporting business expansion through both technology investment and governance.