Institutional Research

Bank of America argues that the Vera Rubin and Rubin Ultra AI-server cycles will materially increase PCB content, layers and material complexity. It sees Dtech and Han's Laser as direct beneficiaries and rates both Buy.

• Rubin PCB content value could be about 3x that of GB200/GB300, with a further doubling possible for Rubin Ultra.
• The AI PCB drill-bit market is projected to grow at a 96% CAGR in 2026-28E to RMB14bn in 2028E.
• The PCB drilling-equipment market is projected to grow at a 12% CAGR in 2025-29E to US$2.7bn.
• M9 material could require more than 5x as many drill bits as M7.
• The report initiates Dtech with Buy and reiterates Buy on Han's Laser.

The BoJ delivered the expected 25bp hike but gave no date for its next move. Deutsche Bank retains its forecast for hikes in January and April 2027 to a 1.75% terminal rate, rather than the market's heavily priced December move.

• The policy rate was raised 25bp to 1.25% on a 7-2 vote, with Sato joining Asada in dissent.
• New wording on producer-price pass-through provides a rationale for further tightening despite CPI remaining in the high 1% range.
• The BoJ kept financial conditions described as accommodative despite the rate exceeding the 1.1% lower bound in the Goy-Iwasaki neutral-rate model.
• Climate Response Funds operations will move from fixed to effectively floating-rate lending and receive a JPY50 trillion cap.
• The funding-operation changes may lift front-end rates independently of the policy-rate path.

J.P. Morgan expects resilient sector demand but no broad 2H26 acceleration, making brand strength, customer-acquisition efficiency and selling-expense leverage the principal differentiators into 2027. Its preference order is Mao Geping, Botanee and Proya ahead of Chicmax, Jahwa and Marubi.

• Jan-Jul cosmetic retail sales rose about 6% year on year, roughly 5 percentage points ahead of overall retail sales.
• Mao Geping delivered 26% sales growth in 1H26, versus roughly -9% to +9% for most peers.
• J.P. Morgan sees selling-expense normalization as the key sector earnings variable in 2027.
• Mao Geping is the top pick and remains rated Overweight.
• Botanee offers an efficiency-led margin-recovery path, while Proya has improving but uneven operating visibility.
• The report is cautious on Chicmax, Jahwa and Marubi because of weaker recovery visibility, cost pressure or demanding valuations.

Morgan Stanley argues that consumer-facing agents are becoming commercially relevant, with Meta Muse providing an early proof point. The report identifies Meta, Apple, Amazon, eBay and Shopify as relatively well positioned, while commodity-like and smaller-ticket businesses face greater disruption risk.

• Morgan Stanley estimates roughly $30 trillion of consumer spend could be digitized through agentic offerings.
• Muse reached the top five downloaded apps for nine straight days and offers 100 million free weekly tokens.
• Its base case suggests 100 million Muse users could generate more than $1 billion of annual revenue and about $0.35 of 2028 EPS upside for Meta.
• The report sees Meta, Apple and Google as best positioned among horizontal platforms because of distribution and proprietary data.
• Google faces a strategic transition risk if agentic products divert commercial activity from Search.
• Amazon, eBay and Shopify screen relatively well, while Peloton, Chewy and FIGS are identified as more exposed.

NELI rose to 123.3 in October after a slight September dip, signalling that Asia ex-Japan export growth remains strong. Nomura cites technology demand, AI investment, chip shortages and consumer-goods shipping as key supports.

• NELI reached 123.3 in October, its highest reading since April 2010.
• The index has a three-month lead time and is intended to capture underlying export momentum with less base-effect distortion than official data.
• Technology-related indicators and the Shanghai containerized freight index drove the latest improvement.
• Nomura expects the chip upcycle could persist beyond 2027, but flags weak Chinese domestic demand and electronics-price risks.

Toyota plans to deploy ELEY robots alongside factory renovations and rebuilds from 2028, including 150,000 units at Toyota Motor Corporation and 250,000 across group companies. Morgan Stanley sees the announcement as a catalyst for renewed investor attention to Toyota's robotics and FA potential.

• Toyota outlined deployment of 400,000 robots from 2028.
• The plan comprises 150,000 units at Toyota Motor Corporation and 250,000 at group companies.
• ELEY uses Toyota Research Institute's Large Behavior Models technology and is designed to learn tasks autonomously.
• Robots are intended to support physically demanding work rather than replace workers.
• Morgan Stanley rates Toyota Equal-weight with a ¥3,300 target price.

Persistent energy-market disruptions are expected to keep oil prices elevated, delaying US disinflation and widening pass-through into core prices. Morgan Stanley still sees a resilient expansion, but with lower consumption, investment and payroll-growth forecasts for 2027.

• Core PCE inflation is forecast at 3.2% in 4Q26 and 2.7% in 4Q27, up from prior forecasts of 3.1% and 2.4%.
• Morgan Stanley expects 25bp Fed hikes in December and March, taking the target range to 4.25-4.50% through end-2027.
• The 2027 real GDP forecast is reduced to 2.3% from 2.6%, while real consumption growth is lowered to 1.8% from 2.1%.
• WTI and Brent spot prices were $107.02/bbl and $130.80/bbl, respectively, as of September 15.
• Third-quarter GDP tracking was raised to 2.5% from 2.0% on stronger August retail sales and housing data.

The report says China’s new offshore-trust taxation regime materially reduces tax-deferral benefits and increases scrutiny of certain founders and major shareholders. JPMorgan nevertheless retains its preferred Hong Kong 2B financial and property picks and views China IT as better positioned against valuation pressure.

• Announcement No. 21 applies a look-through, full-lifecycle approach to offshore trusts, with applicable income taxed at 20%.
• Risk is higher for shares contributed to offshore trusts after 2023, or 2021 in material cases, and for trusts with substantial dividends or realized gains.
• Required filing and settlement by 22 October 2026 generally avoids late-payment surcharges; instalment arrangements may be possible after filing.
• JPMorgan prefers BOCHK, HKEX, Swire Properties and Link REIT, while citing estimated forward EPS growth of 46% for MXCN IT and 52% for CSI300 IT.

A webinar reinforced Goldman Sachs’ view that AI search, GEO and more precise ad targeting create meaningful longer-term opportunities for CyberAgent. The stock remains Neutral as monetization in new AI-search areas is still early.

• More than 50% of Japanese users used generative AI for search in August 2026, according to a CyberAgent survey.
• CyberAgent argues conversational AI and traditional search are being used in parallel; Google search queries recently reached a record high.
• The company has launched an AI Search Marketing Division and plans to expand staffing from about 150 to 250 by FY9/27.
• Goldman Sachs’ ¥1,580 target price is based on FY9/27 SOTP valuation.

Persistent rain and fewer sustained hot days weakened third-quarter beverage sell-through, while PET prices rebounded sharply and El Niño raises sugar and palm-oil risks. BofA remains cautious on the sector but retains Nongfu Spring as its top pick because of its share gains, margin buffer and product mix.

• BofA lowers sector 2026E/2027E EPS by 2%/4% on average and price objectives by 11% on average.
• Traditional offline sell-through slowed across major beverage categories; sugar-free tea was the only category with double-digit growth in 8M26.
• PET rose from about RMB7,000 per ton in early July to above RMB9,000 by mid-September; average third-quarter PET costs could be about 35% higher year on year if spot prices persist.
• Nongfu Spring remains the preferred name, supported by positive bottled-water revenue growth, share gains and gross margin above 60%.