The PSA Research Round-Up for the Two-Week Period Covering 11~25 April 2025

Weekly Comment Summary
Two weeks ago, we wrote here about how US trade policy was generating a very “top down” market.
Since then, uncertainty has replaced fear, and this has led to a very “bottom up" market, with the winners those delivering good / better-than-expected news, explains Pelham Smithers.

PSA Company Visits, Tours and Interviews
Visited: TKP (3479 JT), JINS Holdings (3046 JT), Treasure Factory (3093 JT), Koshidaka Holdings (2157 JT)
1-1 Call with: Insource (6200 JT)
Presentations at: Shin-Etsu Chemical (4063 JT), Nitto Denko (6988 JT), Fujifilm Holdings (4901 JT), Zeon Corp (4205 JT), Nidec (6594 JT), Fanuc (6954 JT), HCM (6305 JT), Denso (6902 JT), Aisin (7259 JT)

PSA in the Press
PSA’s global gaming expert Pelham Smithers discusses pricing tactics in this Financial Times article: Sony makes ‘tough decision’ to raise PlayStation 5 prices in Europe and UK
Pelham also features in the following Bloomberg articles:
o Nintendo Sees Overwhileming Demand for Switch 2 in Japan [24 Apr]
o Nintendo Shares Up on Pre-Order Demand for Switch 2: Street Wrap [24 Apr].
PSA analyst Lindsay Whipp explains why Japan’s IT Service companies are well positioned to benefit from continued risk-off sentiment in the following article: Tariff Chaos Makes Winners of Japan Software Names: Taking Stock – Bloomberg [15 Apr]
Autos / New Mobility analyst Julie Boote’s views on Nidec’s earnings feature in the following Bloomberg article: Nidec’s Shares Soar on Record 4Q, Tariff Resilience: Street Wrap [25 Apr].

PSA Weekly Contents at a Glance
Reports / Flash Notes Summaries
1. Nintendo (7974 JT) Switching Systems
2. Cover Corp (5253 JT) – Investing for Growth While Sustaining Profitability Improvement
3. Treasure Factory (3093 JT): Inbound Sales Still Solid
Company / Sector / Thematic Comments
Technology: Consumer Electronics, Gaming
1. Video Games Round-Up Part 1: Week to 6 April
2. Video Games Round-Up Part II: Week to 15 April
3. Video Games Third-Party Publishers’ FY24 Q4 Earnings Preview
4. Sony Raises Some PS5 Prices +25%, Nintendo Decision Still Awaited
5. Nintendo: US, Canada Switch 2 Pre-Orders Expected to Start this Month
6. Nintendo Reports 2.2mil Customers in Japanese Lottery for Switch 2
Technology: Industrial Electronics / Components / Semis & SPE / Precision
7. FY24 Q4 Preview for Big 3 IT Firms
8. Is It Too Early to Revisit Japanese IC / SPE Names?
9. Advantest FY25 OP Guidance Falls Well Short of Expectations
10. Market Rewards Fujifilm / Konica Minolta with Sharp Bounce
11. Nidec FY24 Q4 Results Beat
12. Other News & Moves That Caught Our Eye
Chemicals / Materials
13. Chemical / Materials-Related News & Moves
Autos / New Mobility
14. China Auto Sales Rise in March on Scrappage Subsidies
15. Japan Considers Relaxations of Safety Regulations for US Auto Imports
16. Honda to Increase US Production
17. Nissan to Raise US Output / Expands Net Loss Forecast to a Record -¥750bil
18. Hino Surges on Reports of Merger Being Finalised
19. Sumitomo Rubber Announces Tire Price Hike in the US
20. Other News & Moves That Caught Our Eye
Auto Parts / Machinery / Capital Goods
21. Fujikura Pays Mtb Electric ¥4.8bil / To Hold Two Earnings Calls
22. Fanuc FY24 Q4 OP Preview / Results
23. Denso’s FY24 Disappoints; FY25 Guidance Assumes No Tariffs
24. HCM Q4 OP Disappoints But Tariffs Fall On US OEM Producer
Internet / eCommerce
25. Demae-can Keeps FY25 Guidance Unchanged
26. Cover Sold Off as Gawr Gura Leaves
27. Kakaku’s Tabelog to be Available on China’s WeChat
28. Other News & Moves That Caught Our Eye
Enterprise Software / IT Services
29. Sansan FY24 Q3 OP Nearly Double Consensus Estimates
30. Money Forward FY25 Q1 OP Loss Far Narrower than Market Expected
31. Money Forward and SMFG to Set Up Digital Bank JV
32. NRI’s FY24 Q4 Misses Consensus Estimates, but FY25 OP is Strong
33. NTT Data to Be First Japan Reseller of Open AI’s ChatGPT Enterprise Solution
34. Obic FY24 OP and Sales Growth Reaccelerate
35. OBC FY24 Results Robust but New Orders Decline Sharply
Pharma / Healthcare
36. Pfizer GLP-1 Drug Failure Puts Light on Upcoming Orforglipron Readout; Nxera / Pfizer situation
37. Orforglipron Trial Data Impact to Chugai’s Earnings, Share Price
38. Chugai Beats FY25 Q1 Consensus / Pipeline Update
39. Leqembi Gets EU Approval
40. Sumitomo Pharma Limit Up on iPS Parkinson’s Therapy
41. Healthcare Equipment Update
42. DSK FY24 Results Beat Expectations
Small- / Mid-Cap Insights
43. Japan’s Cherry Blossom Season Boosts Inbound Tourist Numbers in March
44. Curves Reports FY25 Q2 Results
45. Park24’s March KPIs
46. Insource Revises Up FY25 Guidance
Miscellaneous / Market / Strategy / Macro
47. Japan Set to Play the Putin Defence in Tariff Chess Game
48. China Delivers Strong Q1 GDP Data as March Domestic Economy Motors as Well as Exports
49. Japan CPI +3.6% YoY in March
50. Japan April PMI Back Above 50
51. Japan Service PPI +3.1% in March
52. Tokyo Area CPI +3.5% YoY in April
53. Why Food Inflation May Persist
54. Other News & Moves That Caught Our Eye
List of Recently Published PSA Notes & Reports
Important Disclosure Statement from Pelham Smithers Associates Limited