< The 2014 All-India Research TeamVivek MaheshwariCLSAFirst-Place Appearances: 0
Total Appearances: 2
Analyst Debut: 2013A runner-up when he debuted on this list last year, Vivek Maheshwari of CLSA climbs to No. 3. He is advising clients that urban spending, under severe pressure for the past few years, will benefit from India’s improving economic prospects and consumer sentiment. That, in turn, will boost the country’s consumer discretionary shares, which already outperformed the broad market by 12.5 percentage points year to date through late October, climbing 34 percent. Maheshwari, who also notches a No. 2 finish in Consumer/Staples, is a proponent of companies that expanded operations during the recent downturn, and his top pick in this space is Jubilant FoodWorks, the Noida-based owner and operator of such fast food chains as Domino’s Pizza and Dunkin’ Donuts in India. When the macroeconomic environment was more challenging, Jubilant still managed to invest substantially on the back end and increase its store count, he notes, adding 35 new Domino’s and five new Dunkin’ Donuts outlets in the quarter ended June 30. Although the company is posting negative same-store sales growth, he forecasts that growth will turn positive, closer to the high single digits, over the next 12 months, since “the consumer will be ready to spend on discretionary items beyond the staples.”
RUNNER(S)-UP
Latika Chopra
J.P. Morgan
Arnab Mitra
Credit Suisse
Nillai Shah
Morgan Stanley
