< The 2014 All-Japan Research Team
| Masataka Kunugimoto |
| Nomura |
First-Place Appearances: 1 Total Appearances: 3 Analyst Debut: 2012 |
Nomura’s Masataka Kunugimoto, 36, debuted on this roster in 2012 as a runner-up, climbed to No. 3 last year and now leaps all the way to the top. “He’s one of the most active, prolific analysts following the car companies,” declares one money manager, who also praises the researcher for arranging useful meetings with senior executives. Despite pressure on the sector’s shares — they declined by 13 percent year to date through mid-March, against the broad market’s 11 percent loss — Kunugimoto sees room for optimism, favoring Honda Motor Co. and Mazda Motor Corp. in particular. Tokyo-based Honda’s assets include “its next-generation compact cars, starting from third-generation Fit, which should drive medium-term volume growth in Asia and in Japan,” he says. Further, taking advantage of its position as “a global leader in hybrid and fuel-efficient petrol engines,” he reports, the carmaker “has started to drive down parts costs as it shifts from relationship-based to price-based procurement.” Kunugimoto’s target for Honda’s shares is ¥5,700, representing a 58 percent upside to their mid-March trading value. Mazda, a long-standing favorite headquartered in Hiroshima, should prosper from new offerings that “are more profitable than outgoing models and have been well received globally,” he advises, such as the CX-5 compact crossover sport utility vehicle. Consequently, he expects sales growth in China and Europe to be strong this fiscal year, which ends next March. The stock traded at ¥452 in mid-March, and Kunugimoto projects it will rise to ¥630. He joined Nomura in 2000 to track auto parts names, capturing first place in the sector in 2006 and 2007. That year he left the sell side to earn his MBA at Harvard Business School in the U.S. and work as an M&A banker. He returned to the firm in 2010, assuming coverage of Japan’s automakers, and last year was named head of Nomura’s pan-Asian autos research.
