THIRD TEAM

Sho Kawano Goldman Sachs Japan Co.

Sho Kawano, who, according to one client, provides “good earnings estimates and stock picks,” drops one rung to third. The Goldman Sachs Japan Co. analyst upgraded Aeon Co. — a Chiba-based outfit that operates shoe stores, toy stores and other specialty chains — from neutral to buy in February 2010, at ¥888, on the basis of increasing profitability. By the end of February 2011, the stock had risen 16 percent, to ¥1,030, and led the sector by 9.6 percentage points.

Polling and tabulation of data as well as reporting on the sector profiles were completed before the March 11 Tohoku earthquake.