Michael Nathanson Sanford C. Bernstein
second team Anthony DiClemente Barclays
third team Jessica Reif Cohen BofA Merrill Lynch
Michael Nathanson is No. 1 for a fourth straight year in this sector, which was expanded to incorporate Radio & TV Broadcasting — a separate sector last year in which the Sanford C. Bernstein analyst ranked second. Nathanson, 46, who also is No. 3 in Publishing & Advertising Agencies, delivers “well-reasoned predictions anchored to actual consumer behaviors,” according to one buy-side backer. Case in point: The analyst warned clients in January that spending on home entertainment would sink in 2009 as recession-weary consumers would opt to rent rather than buy DVDs, Blu-ray discs and other media. He was right. According to Digital Entertainment Group, a Los Angeles–based trade association, consumer spending on packaged media plunged 13.5 percent in the first half of the year.
Anthony DiClemente of Barclays Capital moves from third place to second. DiClemente, who held the top spot last year in Radio & TV Broadcasting, provides “brilliant stock picking to winningly play the recovery,” declares one money manager. The analyst upgraded Viacom to buy in February, at $14.61, citing valuation as well as stable revenues from TV affiliate fees at the New York–based producer of movies and television shows. The call proved correct; the stock skyrocketed 71.4 percent, to $25.04, and outpaced the sector by 32 percentage points, through late August.
Jessica Reif Cohen of BofA Merrill slips from second place to third. Last November the analyst highlighted her buy rating on Discovery Communications, on the belief that the Silver Spring, Maryland–based producer of Animal Planet, the Learning Channel and other nonfiction media offered strong growth prospects. The stock had soared 84 percent, from $14.09 to $25.92, by August 31. “Stunning call,” cheers one investor.
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