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Takato Watabe
Deutsche Securities
"His earnings forecasts are reliable, and he interviews many overseas companies’ executives to look at Japanese businesses from a global perspective."
Planting the Deutsche Securities flag atop the sector for a third year running is Takato Watabe, who also claims a runner-up position in Paper & Textiles. Way back in October 2010 the analyst upgraded Nitto Denko Corp. from hold to buy, at ¥3,115, primarily on valuation; early last year he named the Osaka-based manufacturer of electrical insulation, liquid-crystal-display glass and other products his top pick, owing to its strength as a key supplier to makers of smartphones and tablet computers. “I raised my target price from ¥3,200 to ¥3,800 in February 2012 because the share price had reached the range of ¥3,200 to ¥3,300,” Watabe says. The stock shot to ¥4,195 in early December, when the 45-year-old discontinued coverage in anticipation of his departure from the firm; by mid-March it had soared to ¥5,560. Watabe joined SMBC Nikko Securities as a chemicals analyst in March. — Leslie Kramer