5 Best Japanese Stocks To Buy Right Now

4. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE:HMC) 

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 12

Market Capitalization as of December 1: $47.98 billion 

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE:HMC), one of the best and most well known Japanese companies, is a multinational Tokyo-based conglomerate, manufacturing automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE:HMC) directly competes with Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE:TM), and its vehicles are sold worldwide. 

As of Q3 2021, 12 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey were long Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE:HMC), with total stakes amounting to $338.6 million. This is compared to 10 funds being bullish on the stock in the preceding quarter, with a stake value of almost $375 million. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management is the leading Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE:HMC) stakeholder, holding a $242.75 million position in the company. 

Morgan Stanley analyst Shinji Kakiuchi on October  12 initiated coverage of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE:HMC) with an Equal Weight rating and 3,600 yen price target as he started coverage of Japan’s automakers with an In-Line industry view. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE:HMC) reported a Q2 FY2022 EPS of $0.88 on November 5, beating analysts’ estimates by $0.14.

The new Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE:HMC) CEO, Toshihiro Mibe, announced that he wants Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE:HMC) to go fully-electric by 2040, although several new models launched will actually have a hydrogen fuel cell, not a big battery to store electricity.

Currently, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE:HMC) has one EV, which is only available in Europe, and the company has planned to launch 10 new models in the next five years. Mibe suggested that  Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE:HMC) will strengthen its partnership with General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) to serve the North American market and share electrified, electric, or ICE powertrains.