SECOND TEAM
Masahiro Nakanomyo Barclays Capital
Masahiro Nakanomyo of Barclays Capital leaps from runner-up to second place. In August, when Seiko Epson Corp.’s shares dipped to ¥1,134, Nakanomyo reiterated his overweight rating and raised his earnings projections on strong first-quarter sales. The market, he argued, was overreacting to management’s slashed projections for inkjet-printer profits, which were based largely on the rising yen. In January, after the Nagano-based printer maker’s stock had jumped 27.5 percent, to ¥1,446, and outpaced the sector by 24.7 percentage points since the reiteration, Nakanomyo downgraded it to equal weight, on valuation. By the end of February, Epson’s shares had slipped to ¥1,367, for a 5.5 percent loss that lagged the sector by 7.4 percentage points. “He can see the big picture and simultaneously follow all the tiny, important details,” attests one admirer.
Polling and tabulation of data as well as reporting on the sector profiles were completed before the March 11 Tohoku earthquake.