2015 All-Japan Research Team: Internet, No. 2: Keiichi Yoneshima

Keiichi Yoneshima

Barclays

First-place appearances: 0

Total appearances: 1

Analyst debut: 2015

In second place on this roster, which last ran in 2002, is Barclays analystKeiichi Yoneshima, 44. The researcher “provides quality, bottom-up fundamentals analysis in a timely manner,” observes one fund manager. “You cannot miss his comments.” Yoneshima monitors 14 Japanese names, ten in this space and four in telecommunications. Shares of Japan’s Internet providers advanced 13.5 percent year to date through late March, against the domestic broad market’s gain of 11.5 percent, and he is upbeat on the group. “Sentiment toward Internet stocks is likely to continue improving due to reassessment of stable double-digit growth,” he says. In particular, he forecasts that electronic commerce gross transaction values will recover ground lost in the wake of last April’s consumption tax increase, bouyed in part by market expansion from the entry of new players. Yoneshima routinely tracks shifting trends that affect his companies, given the rapid pace of technological development, and advises that the enhanced convenience smartphones offer is bolstering interest in settlement-related Internet financial services. “In a fast-changing Internet industry,” he says, “we think Rakuten is the most likely to achieve stable high growth, excluding special factors such as M&A and up-front investment.” Headquartered in Tokyo, Rakuten is among the world’s largest online retailing marketplaces. “We expect profit momentum to accelerate from 2015 as overseas losses begin to contract after profits were pressured by up-front investment,” the researcher explains. “Profit momentum is at a turning point.” Yoneshima merited a runner-up spot on the Software/Business lineup last year. Before moving to Barclays in 2008, he covered this sector for Lehman Brothers. He graduated from Keio University with a master’s degree in computer science.