Panasonic’s Q1 profit soars 27-fold on demand for car batteries, appliances

Panasonic Corp said first-quarter operating profit surged more than 27 times, handily beating expectations as demand for home appliances and automotive batteries recovered from a particularly weak COVID-hit year.

Profit for April-June rose to 104.4 billion yen ($950 million) from 3.8 billion yen a year earlier, some 50% higher than market expectations and its strongest performance for a first quarter since 2008.

Panasonic, a key supplier of batteries to Tesla Inc, has moved away from low-margin consumer electronics, and now focuses on electric car batteries, industrial-use components and production machinery.

That said, its home appliances including air conditioners and TVs have sold well this year as people spend more time at home during the pandemic.