Eiichi Katayama Bank of America Merrill Lynch
The buy side says: “Katayama-san is fair in his views.”
Eiichi Katayama leaps two levels to return to the first team. Clients applaud the Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst for his “independence” and “integrity,” and consider him “more focused on institutional investors than investment banking.” Katayama, 45, reports on 16 companies — the same number as last year. He reduced Casio Computer Co. from neutral to underperform in May, at ¥590, critical of its deluge of red ink, primarily owing to declining sales of digital cameras. The Tokyo-based manufacturer’s shares plunged nearly 26 percent through early February, to ¥437, before rebounding to end the month at ¥559, for a loss of 5.3 percent that trailed the sector by 4.4 percentage points. For the year ahead, Katayama favors car-electronics providers such as Pioneer Corp., which he considers “well positioned to benefit from a recovery in the auto industry.” He upgraded the Kanagawa-based company’s stock from hold to buy in July, at ¥415. That was too soon; the shares fell below ¥300 in September but recovered by the end of February to lead the sector by 6.2 percentage points. — Ben Mattlin
