< The 2015 All-Japan Research Team

Total appearances: 19

Analyst debut: 1997

Nomura’s Katsushi Saito, a member of Institutional Investor’s All-Japan Research Team Hall of Fame, holds on to the No. 2 position he earned last year. He is “a veteran analyst who has incredible insight,” one backer declares. “No one can match his level of inside knowledge about managements and what they are thinking.” Saito, 49, likes Tokyo-based SMC Corp., the world’s largest manufacturer of pneumatic components for use in industrial automation, with more than 1 million products on offer. Demand from such markets as China, Europe and U.S. will boost sales of SMC’s air cylinders, directional-control valves, fittings and tubing, he reasons. These transactions outside Japan benefit from price advantages afforded by the weaker yen, he adds, and management has bolstered the company’s sales and marketing efforts in an aggressive campaign to consolidate its positions in overseas markets. In China, for example, where SMC boasts twice the market share of its nearest competitor, it should see additional growth as higher labor costs push manufacturers to adopt more automation, says the researcher, while the surging semiconductors and automotive industries in its domestic market should drive demand. Further, the company’s executive team is controlling administrative and manufacturing costs, which helps SMC’s sales performance rapidly translate to the bottom line. So for the quarter ended in December, Saito notes, an 18 percent increase in sales revenue means 14 percent growth in operating profits. He reiterated his buy stance on SMC in February, with a target price of ¥36,300. By late last month, the stock had jumped 14.2 percent, to ¥35,785, against the sector’s gain of 13.7 percent.