Electronic Components Sector Update: Feedback from meetings with Asian investors

We hosted 35 meetings with investors in Singapore and Hong Kong on 13-16 October. Interest in the sector was extremely high, though sentiment deteriorated toward the second half of the week as the Nikkei 225 fell and AI-semiconductor related stocks were particularly hard hit. Most investors were bullish on sector fundamentals, but many were cautious about near-term share price performance due to investor positioning and supply-demand dynamics, and some also expressed concerns about a broader slowdown across AI-related businesses. Interest was strongest in MLCCs, ABF substrates and HDD-related stocks. Murata Manufacturing and Taiyo Yuden came up in almost every meeting: investors were mostly bullish on Murata's fundamentals, though some pointed to a lack of catalysts, while Taiyo Yuden was preferred near term following its business alliance with TDK. Most were also bullish on Ibiden's fundamentals despite valuation concerns, and many agreed with our view that TDK has little incentive to