Panasonic raises profit outlook on AI demand, battery unit profit jumps

Operating profit at its energy unit, which makes batteries for data centres and electric-vehicle makers including Tesla, rose 28% to 40.9 billion yen in the April-June quarter, also helped by favourable exchange-rate effects.

Panasonic maintained its full-year profit forecast for the energy unit at 171 billion yen.

It said sales volume at its North American battery plants fell short of plans in the first quarter due to lower utilisation rates, but added it expects a recovery from the current quarter and remains on track to meet its full-year outlook.

U.S. EV sales recovered in the first quarter following a downturn after the termination of tax credits for EV purchases, with the recovery trend continuing, the company said.

TOKYO, July 30 (Reuters) - Panasonic Holdings raised its full-year operating profit forecast on growing demand tied to AI on Thursday and posted a rise in quarterly profit at its key battery-making energy unit on higher sales of energy storage systems.

The Japanese company raised its group profit forecast for the year ending March 2027 by 40 billion yen, or 7%, to 590 billion yen ($3.6 billion), citing expected demand growth for generative AI server applications in its industry business.