Japan Electronic Components Semiconductors Pre earnings setup and company specific points Spotlight on Ibiden, Murata, Taiy...

Equity Research 24 July 2026 | 3:31PM JST

JAPAN ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS/SEMICONDUCTORS

Pre-earnings setup and company-specific points: Spotlight on Ibiden, Murata, Taiyo Yuden, Renesas, Rohm

Overall view: We look at positioning ahead of Apr-Jun earnings announcements and Daiki Takayama | discussion points for individual companies. Our focus is on how much management Goldman Sachs Japan Co., Ltd. commentary will be provided to support earnings expectations for 2H Mitsuhiro Icho CY26-FY27 and beyond, more so than on actual Apr-Jun results. We believe many | companies will report stronger-than-initially-guided Apr-Jun results and that many Goldman Sachs Japan Co., Ltd. will sound a generally positive tone, pointing to an industry recovery from Jul-Sep Makoto Takahara | onward, a very strong demand outlook for AI/DC, and price stabilization/mix Goldman Sachs Japan Co., Ltd. improvement due to tightening supply/demand. Looking at overall sector share price levels as of July 23, we expect a relatively straightforward positive reaction to Yuji Hidaka | favorable news. However, earnings strength will vary by company (on factors such as Goldman Sachs Japan Co., Ltd.

the impact of material costs), and earnings reactions could differ considerably on an individual basis.

Individual stocks: We have been expanding our list of highlighted stocks on themes from ABF substrates to MLCCs and then to analog/power semiconductors, and our bullish stance on these remains unchanged. (1) Ibiden (Buy): Our focus is on confirming whether earnings are on a pace to beat guidance and on the company’s thinking about additional capacity expansion. (2) Murata Mfg. (Buy, on CL)/Taiyo Yuden (Buy): We expect Murata to report stronger 1Q earnings than Taiyo Yuden, and we are focused on the BB ratio when considering the outlook (we estimate it is very high for both companies). We are also watching mix effects and pricing strategy. (3) Renesas (Buy)/Rohm (Buy): For Renesas, we are focused on QoQ sales/profit momentum (especially for AI/DC and automotive), the pace of resolving production bottlenecks, and company views on market conditions, including price hikes. For Rohm, we are watching the demand outlook from 2Q onward vs. initial guidance (room for upside), the rising demand outlook for AI/DC, and the progress of discussions with Toshiba.

Among other key Buy-rated stocks, we are watching the strength of TDK‘s earnings, the strength of MinebeaMitsumi‘s bearings for AI/DC, investors’ view on Kyocera‘s growth product groups, and MARUWA‘s outlook for AI products from 2Q onward. Among our Neutral-rated stocks, we are focused on the strength of Hirose Electric‘s earnings and the outlook for Nichicon‘s aluminum electrolytic capacitors (we expect weak 1Q earnings and will reassess the stock’s risk-return profile post results). On the other hand, we think Apr-Jun earnings could look

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Goldman Sachs Japan Electronic Components/Semiconductors

lackluster for Alps Alpine (Neutral), Japan Aviation Electronics (Sell), and Mabuchi Motor (Sell).

Exhibit 1: Quarterly and full-year operating profit estimates and consensus Ticker Company name FY3/27 FY3/28 FY3/29 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q FY FY Consensus FY FY Consensus FY YoY CoE YoY YoY (JPY: bn) Est Est Est Est Est BBG Diff Est BBG Diff Est 4062 Ibiden % 90.0 103.2 -1% 163.5 60% 159.9 2% 230.0 41% 6762 TDK % % 363.5 13% 370.1 -2% 400.0 10% 6806 Hirose Electric % 46.0 49.7 1% 57.0 14% 57.6 -1% 63.0 11% 5333 NGK Corp. % % 129.0 10% 122.4 5% 140.0 9% 6971 Kyocera % % 167.0 19% 160.8 4% 193.0 16% 6807 Japan Aviation Electronics Industry % 9.5 10.8 -17% 11.5 28% 13.6 -15% 13.0 13% 6592 Mabuchi Motor % 26.0 25.0 -2% 26.1 7% 27.1 -4%…