< The 2015 All-America Research Team
Tal Liani
Bank of America
Merrill Lynch
First-Place Appearances: 3
Total Appearances: 20
Analyst Debut: 2004
Marking his 20th appearance on the All-America Research Team, Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Tal Liani holds on to the top spot he earned last year. The 47-year-old analyst monitors 21 names in this sector, nearly the same number as last year but in a different mix. He believes that the networking equipment industry has matured and gone flat, so “stock selection in this space requires cherry-picking companies that can establish leadership in niche growth areas, and/or trading around spending cycles and/or product cycles.” The security subsector offers some of the strongest potential, Liani contends, given the increase in demand for these products following large-scale breaches and the associated reputational and monetary damages. “We believe the spending spree in the security space will continue,” he says. “However, we recently noted in our research our growing concerns over valuation considerations and the tougher [comparables] that companies will face early next year. Despite our growing discomfort with these factors, we also noted that it is too early to turn negative on the sector, as most companies in the space have reported strong momentum, and the fundamentals remain solid.” FireEye of Milpitas, California, is among his favorite plays on this theme, on his expectation for “an improving spending environment and FireEye’s best-of-breed products to defend against advanced persistent threats.” Deemed a top pick in January, the stock had jumped 22.4 percent by the middle of last month, to $37.81, while the broad market slipped 2.2 percent.
