Minebea Co. tumbled the most in three decades in Tokyo trading after the ball-bearing maker's first profit decline in four quarters prompted Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to downgrade its stock to ``neutral.''

Minebea sank 16 percent to 483 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the sharpest drop since September 1975, and headed for the lowest since November 2005. The stock was the biggest loser among 1,738 members of the MSCI World Index.

Net income fell 16 percent in the three months to June 30, as the stronger yen depressed Minibea's sales, while rising material costs reduced earnings, the company said yesterday after markets shut. That was the first drop in quarterly profit since June last year, according to data gathered by Bloomberg. Minebea maintained its annual profit forecasts.

The company seems to have run out of measures to turn around its electronics business and expectations of earnings recovery have largely receded,'' Daiki Takayama, a Tokyo-based analyst for Goldman Sachs, wrote in a note to clients today. He cut his rating on Minebea from ``buy'' and reduced his 12-month price estimate by 16 percent to 540 yen.

Minebea shares have fallen 33 percent this year compared with a 14 percent in the benchmark Topix.

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