Yuji Fujimori
Barclays
Claiming third-place honors for a second straight year is Yuji Fujimori. “Although the weaker yen will help boost earnings to some extent, industry fundamentals are tough in the consumer electronics space owing to a lack of growth products,” the Barclays analyst states. Even the robust smartphone market is experiencing margin compression, and Japanese companies are not well positioned to cope, he notes. Fujimori upgraded Osaka-based Panasonic Corp. from neutral to buy in early December, at ¥406, based on the manufacturer’s cost-cutting efforts and potential divestitures. In March, after the stock had rocketed 62.8 percent, to ¥661, and shot past the sector by 47 percentage points, he told clients to take profits, on the belief that the market had fully factored in any near-term earnings recovery potential. Fujimori “has a perfect balance of research and analysis,” declares one buy-side supporter. — Carolyn Koo