Ehud Gelblum J.P. Morgan
second team Tal Liani BofA Merrill Lynch
third team Jeffrey Kvaal Barclays
Ehud Gelblum captures the crown for a third consecutive year; he is also No. 1 in Data Networking & Wireline Equipment. The 40-year-old analyst, who departed J.P. Morgan in July and will be joining Morgan Stanley this month, is “good at laying out his thesis,” according to one money manager. Gelblum made a case for Motorola in January, telling investors that the Schaumburg, Illinois–based manufacturer of telephone handsets and other products was restructuring to enhance profitability. The stock had shot from $4.11 to $7.18 by late August, a stunning 74.7 percent advance that beat the sector by 53.7 percentage points.
Rising from third place to second is Tal Liani of BofA Merrill, who is also ranked second in Data Networking & Wireline Equipment. Liani upgraded Palm from sell to buy in April, at $9.84, ahead of the Sunnyvale, California–based company’s launch of its Pre smartphone. The stock zipped 35.5 percent, to $13.33, through August. Liani offers a “global perspective on the telecom equipment industry,” marvels one ally.
Although he drops one notch to third place, Jeffrey Kvaal of Barclays Capital continues to win praise for publishing what one client calls “the most comprehensive daily morning note on everything that’s going on in the sector.” Kvaal’s best calls of the year include a January overweight rating on Ontario-based BlackBerry smartphone developer Research in Motion, on rising demand. The stock skyrocketed 62 percent in the first eight months of the year.
Click here to see the All-America Research Team rankings.
