Kansai manufacturers are successively forecasting record profits, with their strengths in materials and components supporting AI driving earnings higher. Panasonic Holdings expects operating profit for the fiscal year ending March 2027 to reach a record ¥590 billion, while Murata Manufacturing also forecasts record full-year profit.
Kansai manufacturers are performing strongly. Panasonic Holdings revised its earnings forecast upward at the end of July and now expects operating profit for the fiscal year ending March 2027 to reach a record ¥590 billion.
Murata Manufacturing reported strong sales of multilayer ceramic capacitors for AI servers, with revenue of ¥502.3 billion in the April-June 2026 quarter. It forecast full-year operating profit of ¥430 billion, which would be a record high.
As expanding data-center investment driven by the spread of AI provides a tailwind and demand for energy-storage systems and electronic components rises, Kyocera in Kansai is also seeing earnings growth.
Nakashima Norio (中島 規巨), president, pointed to signs of overheating in AI-related data-center investment while indicating that he expects demand to continue expanding.