Investment bank Nomura has screened for Japanese stocks with “high bitcoin price sensitivity,” following a surge in the cryptocurrency’s price. The bank noted that “stocks of exchange operators plus semiconductor, IT, and nonferrous names track BTC but are currently lagging.” It comes as analysts say bitcoin prices could hit $100,000 by the end of the year following President-elect Donald Trump’s victory . Year-to-date, the price of bitcoin was up 72.8% to trade around $76,111 on Nov. 8. BTC.CM= YTD mountain Bitcoin Trump promised several pro-cryptocurrency initiatives as he campaigned for a second term as president. His “call for the loosening of regulations on crypto assets naturally has an influence on the price of bitcoin,” Nomura’s analysts noted. The bank said it conducted multiple regression analyses of stocks to identify which have a high bitcoin price sensitivity. It gave each stock a sensitivity of at least 0.1, with a higher number implying it is more sensitive to changes in the price of bitcoin. The stocks come from a range of sectors and “do not necessarily have any direct connection with bitcoin,” the analysts explained, with some from “adjacent industries” such as semiconductors — which is seeing increased demand as a result of bitcoin mining — and IT. Here are 10 stocks from the investment bank’s screen that stand out for having substantial upside potential, according to FactSet’s consensus price targets: Top stocks Among the names on the bank’s screen are semiconductor equipment manufacturers Micronics Japan and Towa Corporation . According to FactSet, analysts are mostly bullish on both companies. Those covering Micronics give it an average price target of 7,033.33 Japanese yen ($46.05) — indicating almost 83% upside potential. Analysts give Towa Corp an average target price of 3,466.67 Japanese yen, or 67.5% upside potential, according to FactSet. Elsewhere, investment management giant SoftBank Group also turned up on the screen given its focus on — and significant investment in — artificial intelligence. Sixteen of 20 analysts covering the stock give it a buy or overweight rating, according to FactSet, with an average target price of 11,931.20 Japanese yen, implying 29.4% upside potential. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
