Do we like them?

Do we like Panasonic?

Japanese maker of electronics, appliances, EV batteries and building and industrial systems, based in Osaka.

Our score: 6 out of 10. A big, long-established maker doing real work on batteries and decarbonisation. Its 2018 bribery settlement and 10,000 job cuts hold it back. We would back it cautiously.

Panasonic is one of Japan's household-name giants. It makes everything from appliances and electronics to EV batteries. Under CEO Yuki Kusumi it has been shifting away from consumer electronics and towards batteries, automotive and housing systems.

The big drama of recent years was the restructuring. Panasonic announced it would cut 10,000 jobs worldwide, split evenly between Japan and overseas, with about ¥130 billion in restructuring charges. A May 2026 analysis said the reforms were largely done by April and that the harder task is finding new earnings drivers.

On the dodgy side, in 2018 its Panasonic Avionics unit paid about $280 million to settle US bribery and accounting charges. The SEC and DOJ said payments to consultants tied to a state-owned airline were booked wrongly. The company said it then strengthened compliance.

On the green side, it opened a $4bn EV battery plant in De Soto, Kansas. Panasonic calls it a net-zero site and says it will move to local renewable power within ten years. That's mostly company claims reported by trade press. So we give it a middling, cautiously positive score.