Industries – Machinery: Second

Hidehiko Hoshino wins the No. 2 spot for a fourth year in a row; he also claims a runner-up position in Plant Engineering & Shipbuilding. The UBS analyst continues to urge clients to buy Kubota Corp., a construction equipment and farm machinery manufacturer headquartered in Osaka that he has been recommending since February 2008. Hoshino predicts the company will enjoy record operating profits for fiscal 2013, which began this month, fueled by the cheap yen (a boon to Japanese exporters), as well as “solid demand” for agricultural equipment in both Asia and the U.S. He’s less sanguine about Yamanashi-based Fanuc Corp. and has been urging clients to sell their shares of the factory automation equipment maker, on expected weak demand for the company’s iconic metal-cutting Robodrill. The device “is finally showing a hard hit on earnings” and a projected drop in sales, he says. Hoshino has “an almost encyclopedic knowledge of global machinery companies by category and comparison,” observes one money manager. “And his help in arranging meetings with top managements is also second to none.” — Ben Mattlin