For those concerned about Tesla, look no further at what their...

For those concerned about Tesla, look no further at what their supplier Panasonic has said about Tesla meeting its Model 3 goals.

Panasonic: Tesla Continues to Drive Growth


By
Adam Routh
Oct. 23, 2017 11:06 p.m. ET


Tesla (TSLA) is firmly in the driving seat of growth for Japanese electronics giant Panasonic (6752.JP), according to Jefferies.

Panasonic Corp. lithium-ion batteries manufactured for Tesla Motors Inc. Model S electric vehicles.ILLUSTRATION: PHOTOGRAPHER: TOMOHIRO OHSUMI/BLOOMBERG
Shares in Panasonic have charged up 55% over the last 12 months, fueled by demand for lithium-ion batteries used to power electric cars. Panasonic is the sole supplier of  lithium-ion batteries to Tesla. It also supplies batters to Toyota, Audi, Ford and Mazda. Jefferies analyst Atul Goyal believes demand for Tesla electric vehicle batteries will continue to drive growth for Panasonic's battery business:
We assume most of the growth will come from Tesla’s Model 3 production ramp. Elon Musk has a track record of achieving nigh-impossible targets. But the optimistic time-frames can slip, so for reasons of prudence we assume 500K Model 3 cars by 2019 rather than 2018....
We forecast group operating growth of c. 84% over 3 years (c. 23% CAGR) from JPY277b in FY3/17 to JPY509b in FY3/20. Of this ¥232b increase, JPY197b (or 85% of the total increase) is being driven by AIS (Auto, Industrial segment), and of that c.JPY53b is driven by Tesla.
The analyst expects revenues and profits of its non-Auto business to sustain at current levels.
Goyal maintains his buy rating on the stock but hikes his price target from JPY1,280 a share to JPY1,950, implying 17% upside. Panasonic share recently traded at JPY1,671.5 a share.
Meanwhile, Panasonic on Monday announced the acquisition of  Arimo Inc., a Mountain View, California-based leader in deep learning and behavioral artificial intelligence (AI). Through this acquisition, Panasonic plans to leverage Arimo's data science expertise in solutions it provides to its B2B customers (including manufacturers) as well as in the housing business, the company said in a statement:
"The acquisition of Arimo provides Panasonic with a much-needed core data science element that will greatly reinforce our efforts to continue developing further sophisticated AI-based solutions for our B2B customers," said Yoshiyuki Miyabe, Panasonic Corporation Chief Technology Officer. "We are very pleased to have Arimo founder Christopher Nguyen and his team of data scientists join us in this mission."