Joseph Buckley BofA Merrill Lynch
second team John Ivankoe J.P. Morgan
third team John Glass Morgan Stanley
Joseph Buckley ruled the roost for seven straight years, from 2001 to 2007, as an analyst with Bear Stearns. Last year he tumbled to runner-up, but Buckley — now with BofA Merrill — is back on top this year. “He is a class act and the very rare combination of a true gentleman and a hard-nosed analyst,” attests one longtime client. Buckley, 55, reiterated his buy rating on Darden Restaurants in March, at $26.43, on improving margins at the Orlando, Florida–based operator of Olive Garden, Red Lobster and other franchises. Investors enjoyed a delicious 24.6 percent gain, to $32.93, through August. In second place for a second year running is
John Ivankoe of J.P. Morgan, who “works hard to get into the minds of the managements of the companies he covers,” according to one fund manager. Ivankoe highlighted his long-standing overweight recommendation on Seattle’s Starbucks Corp. in February, telling clients that brand-improvement efforts and store closures would lead to stabilization in the second half of the year. The caffeine-fueled stock charged ahead of the sector by 67.7 percentage points, through August.
Although he drops from first to third, Morgan Stanley’s John Glass continues to impress buy-siders with “keen intuition into the market,” in the words of one booster. Glass upgraded Atlanta-based Wendy’s/Arby’s Group to overweight in January, at $5.45, on the fast-food operator’s long-term prospects. The stock hasn’t gained much ground yet — its 2009 peak was $5.72, in April, and it closed August at $5.04 — but Glass remains committed.
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