Hoya Corp. Shares Rise Sharply on Addition to Japan Benchmark Index

By Kosaku Narioka

Shares of Hoya Corp. rose sharply Tuesday morning following news that the Japanese optical-product maker will be included in the benchmark Nikkei Stock Average.

The shares were recently 3.2% higher at 14,545 yen after rising as much as 6.2% earlier.

Japanese media company Nikkei Inc. said Monday that it will add Hoya in the Japanese benchmark stock index on Oct. 3 as part of a regular review. Nidec Corp. and SMC Corp. will also be added, Nikkei said.

Jefferies analysts Masahiro Nakanomyo and Hisako Furusumi said in a research note that they expect healthy fiscal-year earnings growth for Hoya following strong first-quarter results, though not sharp gains due partly to constraints on supply capacity in extreme-ultraviolet-lithography masks.

The U.S. bank raised its net profit forecast to Y183.2 billion ($1.30 billion) for the year ending March 2023 from its previous projection of Y180.2 billion, compared with net profit of Y164.51 billion in the previous fiscal year.

The Topix subindex for precision instruments, which Hoya belongs to, was recently 1.3% higher.

Nidec was 0.2% higher while SMC was 1.6% lower. The Nikkei Stock Average was flat recently.

Write to Kosaku Narioka at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

09-05-22 2250ET