Is Wantedly profitable in 2026?

Yes. Wantedly posted FY2025/8 consolidated revenue of Y4,908 million (+3.9% YoY) and operating profit of Y1,644 million (+3.1% YoY) as of August 31, 2025, per minkabu.jp. However Q4 operating margin fell sharply from 37.9% to 22.1% YoY, signaling profitability is weakening.

Who is Wantedly's biggest competitor?

YOUTRUST is the most direct threat, having raised over Y2 billion in a Series C round announced May 16, 2024, and reportedly growing users 5x in a year, targeting the same trusted-referral recruiting niche as Wantedly's Visit product.

Could AI replace Wantedly's recruiting workflow?

Partly. AI can automate candidate sourcing and scout messaging, the core Wantedly Visit workflow. Wantedly itself launched an AI Agent Mode for candidate shortlisting on November 25, 2025, suggesting the company sees this exposure and is racing to own the automation rather than be replaced by it.

Who owns Wantedly and is it publicly traded?

Wantedly, Inc. is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth market under ticker 3991. It has no parent company; founder-CEO Akiko Naka held roughly 69-72% of shares at the September 14, 2017 IPO, and the company remains independent as of July 2026.

Is Wantedly's stock doing well in 2026?

No. Market capitalization was down about 29% year-over-year as of June 24, 2026, sitting around Y8.5-8.7 billion with a 52-week range of roughly Y871-1,431, far below its all-time high of Y5,770, per stockanalysis.com.

Is Wantedly growing its user base?

Yes, modestly. Wantedly announced its registered users surpassed 4.5 million domestically as of June 24, 2026, up from about 4.0-4.27 million reported in earlier 2025/2026 marketing materials, though revenue growth has stayed in the low single digits for four straight fiscal years.

Consumer platforms · Japan

Wantedly

wantedly.com ↗

Japanese app connecting job seekers and companies through casual, trust-based referrals.

Losing its protection

Assessed 26 July 2026 · Evidence as of 26 July 2026

The structural protection is eroding.

On the recordSince 26 July 2026 · Checkable from October 2026 · Every call on the record Checkpoint: FY2026/8 full-year results, which will show if margin and growth stabilize or keep sliding

The call

A profitable, long-running network with millions of users is losing growth momentum just as a funded rival and AI tools target the same referral-hiring niche.

Wantedly connects job seekers and employers through trusted recommendations rather than traditional job postings, and has built a community of 4.5 million users over 15 years. The company is now under pressure because a newer startup called YOUTRUST is copying its playbook with fresh funding and faster growth, while artificial intelligence is starting to do the work that Wantedly's recruiters normally do by hand. The key question is whether Wantedly can fix its recently collapsing profit margins (they dropped from 37.9 percent to 22.1 percent in the last year) and prove that new AI tools can bring back revenue growth, which has been stuck in the same range for four years.

Why

AI pressure: Generic AI recruiting/matching tools. AI can automate the sourcing and screening work Wantedly's referral UI was built to replace, cutting its reason to exist. Could AI do the core job? Only partly.

Bigger players: YOUTRUST. YOUTRUST, freshly funded above 2 billion yen and growing fast, is live in the same trusted-referral hiring niche. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.

What protects it. 4.5 million registered users and 40,000 companies already on the platform, plus regulatory hiring clearance, make switching costly.

What would change this call

Wantedly's FY2026/8 full-year results (due around Oct 2026) show revenue growth above or below the 8% mark. Shows whether AI Agent Mode and expansion are reversing the four-year growth flatline.
Any public report of an enterprise client moving its hiring account from Wantedly to YOUTRUST. Would be direct evidence of customer loss to the named rival, not just faster rival growth.
Wantedly's quarterly operating margin in FY2026/8 stays below 25% or climbs back above 30%. Shows whether the Q4 FY2025/8 margin collapse (37.9% to 22.1%) is a trend or a one-off.

Key numbers

Revenue grew only 3.9% YoY to 4.908 billion yen (2025-08-31)
Q4 operating margin fell from 37.9% to 22.1% (2025-08-31)
Market cap down about 29% year over year (2026-06-24)

Named risks

Operating margin compression: Q4 fell from 37.9% to 22.1% YoY as of August 2025. Severity: high
Revenue growth stuck in low single digits for four consecutive fiscal years (2022-2025). Severity: medium
Direct competitor YOUTRUST freshly capitalized and growing fast in same trusted-referral niche. Severity: high
AI-native sourcing tools could automate the core scouting/shortlisting workflow Wantedly charges for. Severity: medium
Stock down ~29% YoY and far below all-time high, signaling weak investor confidence. Severity: medium

Rivals, as read in July 2026

Rival	Direction	Evidence
YOUTRUST	losing to	YOUTRUST raised Y2B+ in Series C (May 2024) and reportedly grew users 5x YoY in same niche
Bizreach	contesting	Bizreach (Visional group) competes as a larger, high-end direct-scouting platform
Green / engage	contesting	Large-database direct-scouting alternatives from En Japan and Persol/doda affiliates
Recruit Holdings	contesting	Incumbent giant (owns Indeed, Recruit Direct Scout) that dwarfs Wantedly in scale but hasn't targeted its niche directly
LinkedIn	contesting	Positioned as global business SNS comparator in Japanese market-comparison content, per vendor sourcing

Questions people ask

Is Wantedly profitable in 2026?: Yes. Wantedly posted FY2025/8 consolidated revenue of Y4,908 million (+3.9% YoY) and operating profit of Y1,644 million (+3.1% YoY) as of August 31, 2025, per minkabu.jp. However Q4 operating margin fell sharply from 37.9% to 22.1% YoY, signaling profitability is weakening.
Who is Wantedly's biggest competitor?: YOUTRUST is the most direct threat, having raised over Y2 billion in a Series C round announced May 16, 2024, and reportedly growing users 5x in a year, targeting the same trusted-referral recruiting niche as Wantedly's Visit product.
Could AI replace Wantedly's recruiting workflow?: Partly. AI can automate candidate sourcing and scout messaging, the core Wantedly Visit workflow. Wantedly itself launched an AI Agent Mode for candidate shortlisting on November 25, 2025, suggesting the company sees this exposure and is racing to own the automation rather than be replaced by it.
Who owns Wantedly and is it publicly traded?: Wantedly, Inc. is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth market under ticker 3991. It has no parent company; founder-CEO Akiko Naka held roughly 69-72% of shares at the September 14, 2017 IPO, and the company remains independent as of July 2026.
Is Wantedly's stock doing well in 2026?: No. Market capitalization was down about 29% year-over-year as of June 24, 2026, sitting around Y8.5-8.7 billion with a 52-week range of roughly Y871-1,431, far below its all-time high of Y5,770, per stockanalysis.com.
Is Wantedly growing its user base?: Yes, modestly. Wantedly announced its registered users surpassed 4.5 million domestically as of June 24, 2026, up from about 4.0-4.27 million reported in earlier 2025/2026 marketing materials, though revenue growth has stayed in the low single digits for four straight fiscal years.

Timeline

2026-06-24Wantedly announces registered users surpassed 4.5 million domestically
2026-06-16Perk AI recommendation feature (AI recommend) launched
2025-11-27FY2025/8 results reported: revenue Y4,908M, Q4 operating margin fell 37.9% to 22.1% YoY
2025-11-25AI Agent Mode launched for candidate shortlist proposals
2024-05-16Rival YOUTRUST announces Series C raise of over Y2 billion
2020-12-24Wantedly resolves Employment Security Act grey zone on recommendation matching
2017-09-14Wantedly IPOs on TSE Mothers market at Y1,800 per share
2010-09Wantedly, Inc. founded in Tokyo

Revision history

26 July 2026

First assessed. Losing its protection. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.

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