Nidec shares sink after auditor withholds opinion on results

Nidec shares plummeted as much as 20% in Tokyo after the Japanese motor maker’s auditor declined to give an opinion on its long-awaited financial statements, fueling caution over the outlook for the scandal-hit company.

The world’s largest maker of precision motors booked ¥632 billion ($4 billion) in writedowns for the fiscal year that ended in March and charges of ¥482.5 billion related to accounting irregularities leading up to the prior period, according to a delayed filing on Wednesday. The company’s auditor, PwC Japan, withheld its opinion on the delayed results.

Thursday’s stock decline marks its worst intraday drop since September 2025. Nidec shares have lost more than 31% so far this week, after local magazine Diamond reported about the losses. The company also announced the resignation of Mitsuya Kishida as CEO on Tuesday.

“Nidec’s results turned out to be disastrous and far from definitive,” said Amir Anvarzadeh, Japan equity strategist at Asymmetric Advisors in Singapore, in a note to clients. The auditor’s refusal to sign off on the results indicates that “further balance sheet losses remain plausible,” he said.

Nidec is required to submit a securities report with an auditor’s opinion by Oct. 28, which marks one year since its stock was put on special alert by the Tokyo Stock Exchange, wrote SMBC Nikko analyst Ryosuke Katsura in a report.