Top Ranked Analysts of 2013

Top Ranked

Analysts of

2013

Corey Davis, an analyst for Jefferies, focuses his financial recommendations on pharmaceutical

companies. With a 92% success rate of recommendation stocks and a +16.6% average return

over the S&P-500, Corey Davis has earned his place as the #1 ranked analysts of 2013.

Vanda (VNDA) and Endo Health (ENDP) were among Corey’s mot successful recommendations of

the year, earning +46.8% and +11.5% respectively. Corey recommended BUY VNDA because he

was optimistic about the new drug Tasi, “given its robust clinical effect, placebo-like safety

(lowers benefit/risk hurdle), and an orphan indication rather an ‘insomnia’ claim (there won’t be

off-label use).” And he recommended BUY ENDP because of his confidence in the appointment of

a new CEO.

Corey’s financial advice accuracy and his high average return has kept him a step ahead of the

masses and into the #1 spot of Top Analysts of 2013.

Least Successful Recommendation of 2013

Endo Health - ENDP (-2.4%): Corey recommended BUY ENDP due to the FDA's decision to

block OxyContin. He believed that the FDA objection would be withdrawn.

Most Successful Recommendation of 2013

AcelRx Pharmaceutical - ACRX (+76.7%): Corey recommended BUY AcelRx, explaining

that the new pain management device, "could be used by 1.2 million people a year, which

would bring the company $400 million in revenue from the U.S. alone."

Investment firms have caught the eye of Jefferies analyst Daniel Fannon. Daniel recom-

mends companies such as, T. Rowe Price (TROW), The Blackstone Group (BX) and Invesco

Ltd. (IVZ), and his recommendations have earned him the second spot at the top.

With an 88% success rate of recommended stocks, Daniel is confident about his financial

advice and it has paid off. One of Daniel’s successful recommendations to BUY Affiliated

Managers Group (AMG) earned him +14.8% over S&P-500. At the time Daniel noted, “the

benefits of expanding international distribution should continue throughout 2013,” and he

was right!

Daniel’s consistent earnings have left him with a 5.3% average return over S&P-500 and a

strong track record of successful recommendations.


Invesco Ltd.— IVZ (+15.9%): Daniel recommended BUY IVZ “due to domestic equity mar-

ket gains, as well as improving fee rates and generally higher flow assumptions.”


Invesco Ltd.— IVZ (-11.6%): After traveling with the Invesco management team for several

days Daniel recommended BUY, “The outlook for organic growth, revenue yield and operating

margin improvement remains positive.”

Ella Ji is an analyst from Oppenheimer who covers Chinese consumer & business services com-

panies. Ella’s recommendations include BUY ratings for E-House China (EJ), a contractor with

real estate developers in China, and New Oriental Education (EDU), a provider of private edu-

cational services in China.

Her recommendations of these stocks have earned her an average +33.8% return over S&P-

500! Ella recommended BUY EJ because saying, “business has exhibited strong growth since its

3.0 version was rolled out as the number of subscribed developers increased significantly, and

management anticipates strong sequential revenue growth in 2H13.” She earned +42.3%,

greatly helping her overall average return.

Not only does Ella have a very high average return percentage, but she also has a 100% suc-

cess rate of recommended stocks!


China Distance Education Holdings—DL (+60.5%): Ella recommended BUY DL after not-

ing, “momentum in its core accounting test prep services [had] picked up.”


Melco Crown Entertainment-MPEL (+13.3%): Ella recommended BUY MPEL because at

the time she expected, “the world’s largest gambling center, to deliver 13% GGR growth in

2013, driven by 7% growth in VIP and 25% in mass. A handful of infrastructure projects and

more mass-oriented casinos to be completed in the coming years are expected to further drive

visitation.”

RBC Capital analyst Mark Mahaney focuses his financial recommendations on most of the cur-

rent major internet stocks including, Google (GOOG), Facebook (FB) and Twitter (TWTR). His

12.5% average return over S&P-500 reflects just how successful his financial advice can be.

Mark recommended BUY FB earlier in June, with the announcement of video advertising, saying,

“Video is the next big opportunity on the internet, which could generate up to $5 billion in reve-

nues.” Mark ended up with a +33.9% measured performance over the S&P-500!

Recently, Mark came out on top with a BUY recommendation for the relatively new internet

company Wix.com Ltd. (WIX). Mark noted that, “Wix is a high-growth company with a compel-

ling solution—Wix provides an easy-to-use, relatively inexpensive website builder for small and

medium-sized businesses.” Mark earned +20.9% on this recommendation.

With a 72% success rate of recommended stocks, Mark has secured a place as the number 4

ranked analyst of 2013.


Twitter—TWTR (+126.4%): Mark sees Twitter as a new internet utility. He recommended

BUY TWTR because, “Twitter is becoming an essential service for consumers, businesses, me-

dia companies and advertisers.”


Facebook—FB (-15.4%): Mark recommended BUY FB after the company started to address

major issues, “FB is showing significant Payment Revenue diversification, recording record gam-

ing revenue despite a materially declining contribution from Zynga [and] FB has gone from $0

to a $1.5B mobile revenue rate in less than a year without a negative impact on engagement.”

Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia’s strong profile comes from his recommendations of Face-

book (FB), GameStop (GME) and Groupon (GRPN), which have helped earn him an 11.4% av-

erage return over S&P-500.

His Facebook recommendations this year alone have averaged +2.9%. One such recommenda-

tion to BUY FB earned Arvind 11.7% over the S&P-500. Arvind made his recommendation fol-

lowing the observation that, “Facebook is getting its foot in the door in China with the lifting of

the ban that is currently limited to the Shanghai Free Trade Zone.”

Another of his successful Facebook recommendations earned him +8.9%. This time Arvind

backed his BUY rating by saying, “that Facebook should continue to get a boost from increased

mobile advertising, adding that he thinks the stock should be a “core holding in internet portfo-

lios.”

This year was a great year for Arvind’s recommendations, leaving him with a 78% success rate

of recommended stocks.


Groupon—GRPN (+41.9%): Arvind Bhatia recommended BUY GRPN with an incredibly posi-

tive attitude, “Even after a 150% recovery from the lows in the battered daily deals stock, Stern

Agee sees share of Groupon heading much higher.”


Groupon—GRPN (-18.5%): Even with a lack of leadership Arvind recommended BUY GRPN,

“Eric and Ted will bring in a new CEO with a strong operating background to move the company

forward, so they not only grow the top line but more importantly the bottom line.”

Canaccord Genuity analyst William Plovanic had an extremely positive year, with no financial

losses. Every single one of his BUY recommendations in 2013 added to his 11.9% average re-

turn over S&P-500.

His 100% success rate stems from his recommendations about medical companies and their

stocks such as, Dexcom (DXCM). William recommended BUY DXCM stating, “We believe com-

mercialization of the G4 Platinum sensor is progressing better than expected, driving new patient

addition growth beyond initial expectations.” This recommendation earned William +20.9% over

S&P-500.

William also recommended BUY Cyberonics (CYBX) following the announcement that the Centers

of Medicare and Medicaid Services declined to reconsider a non-coverage decision because he

did not, “believe that there [would] be a lasting affect on shares of Cyberonics as the current

expectations [did] not include any contribution from depression in forward projections.”

William has a strong knowledge of the medical industry and it clearly shows in his 2013 perfor-

mance.


EnteroMedics—ETRM (+49.6%): William recommended BUY ETRM because, “the company

is in the development stages of making medical devices using neuroblocking technology to treat

obesity, metabolic diseases and other gastrointestinal disorders.”


Stryker—SYK (+1.0%): William

recommended BUY SYK because,

“Stryker continues to grow at

above market rates, taking shares

in the hip and trauma/extremities

markets.”

EnteroMedics—ETRM

(+1.0%): “We maintain our BUY

rating following the announcement

that EnteroMedics has completed

its pre-premarket approval meeting

with the FDA.

Christopher O’Cull’s taste for fast food works in his favor. The KeyBanc analyst has a 100% suc-

cess rate of recommendations about companies such as Domino’s Pizza (DPZ), Red Robin Gour-

met (RRGB) and Jack In The Box (JACK). His 11.2% average return over S&P-500 has helped

earn him the number 7 spot of top 2013 analysts.

His most recent Red Robin Gourmet recommendation is just one reason why he has launched to

the top of the pack. Christopher recommended BUY RRGB “after the company reported better

than expected Stack Rating Summary and Earnings Per Share for the 2Q.” Christopher earned

+22.3% over S&P-500.

Christopher also earned a high return when he recommended BUY Ignite Restaurant Group

(IRG). With the acquisition of Macaroni Grill Christopher stated that IRG, “will benefit 2014 earn-

ings and cash flows more than expected.” Especially because of its, “core menu” with “strong and

compelling food at reasonable prices.”

Christopher has an appetite for good stocks and it shows in his 2013 recommendations.


Ignite Restaurant Group Inc. —IRG (+23.7%): “Chirstopher O’Cull boosted his rating on

Ignite to BUY from HOLD, predicting that the company’s profits will eventually get a boost from

its acquisition of Romano’s Macaroni Grill.”


Texas Roadhouse Inc. —TXRH (+2.4%): Christopher recommended BUY TXRH because of

a strong quarterly performance which, “was buoyed by a 4.4% increase in revenue at restau-

rants open at least a year.”

Michael Olson, of Piper Jaffray, won big this year with recommendations of personal entertain-

ment companies such as, GameStop (GME) and TiVo Inc. (TIVO). He also received positive re-

turns every time he recommended travel websites including, HomeAway (HOME) and Price-

line.com (PCLN), giving him a total average return of +8.7% over S&P-500.

Michael earned his number 8 spot this year with recommendations such as, BUY GME. With the

company’s announcement about releasing both Sony’s new PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s new

Xbox One, Michael didn’t see “either company beating the other one down completely.” This

product hype only helped GameStop and Michael’s financial track record, earning him +35.3%

over S&P-500.

And Michael earned a nice return after recommending BUY PCLN. Michael saw that, “Priceline

reported material bookings and EPS upside for Q2, including a year over year bookings growth

acceleration for both its domestic and international business.” Following his recommendation,

Michael walked away with +5.9% measured performance over the S&P-500.

These recommendations are just a few of Michael’s wins from his 81% success rate of recom-

mendations this year.


GameStop Corp. – GME (+44.0%): Michael recommended BUY GME due to high expecta-

tions for the PS4 launch, “We expect the PS4 will be a meaningful growth driver for GameStop

as the retailer’s hardware market share has grown from 20% during 2006 [the time of the

PS3’s launch] to 35% today.”


GameStop Corp. – GME (-12.8%): Michael recommended BUY GME after hearing that Sony

said the sales of PlayStation 4 game consoles have topped 1 million units in the first 24 hours of

sales.

Credit Suisse analyst Gary Balter, only had one recommendation in 2013 that failed to bring him

a positive return, giving Gary a 90% success rate of recommended stocks for the year! With suc-

cessful recommendations to BUY Best Buy Co. (BBY), The Container Store (TCS), and Ulta Salon

(ULTA), Gary walked away in 2013 with a 12.6% average return over S&P-500.

One of Gary’s highest returns this year includes a BUY BBY rating. Gary made this recommenda-

tion stating, “Best Buy shares offer the most upside amongst so-called hardline retailers

(companies that sell things like appliances, electronics and furniture), due to the steps CEO Hu-

bert Joly and executive management team are taking to turnaround the company, including its

cost-savings initiative as well as revamping its online channel (which includes creating a better

“omnichannel” experience) and, most importantly, creating stores within its store with partner-

ships with Microsoft and Samsung.” Gary earned +23.2% over S&P-500 with this recommenda-

tion.

And while Gary lost -4.2% with his recommendation to SELL Sears Holdings due to, “lukewarm

holiday sales and weakness in same-store sales,” his +12.6% average return for the year is quite

strong.


Ulta Salon – ULTA (+24.9%): Even though, at the time of Gary’s BUY ULTA recommenda-

tion the stock was falling, Gary was optimistic. “Yes, there are issues raised primarily from the

Q1 guidance on gross margin and Q4 inventory levels, but we believe these are temporary is-

sues and that the underlying story is intact.”


Sears Holdings – SHLD (-4.2%): Last Winter Gary recommended SELL SHLD because of

“lukewarm holiday sales and weakness in same-store sales for the Kmart and Sears Canada

units.”

The Stifel Nicolaus analyst John Baugh, knows when to BUY and when to SELL. John’s 90% suc-

cess rate of recommended stocks this year left him with a +12.1% average return over S&P-500.

John earned this high record with successful BUY ratings of Select Comfort (SCSS) and Tempur

Sealy (TPX), but John also recommended SELL Furniture Brand (FBN), earning him +56.6% over

S&P-500. John knew when to sell noting, “we have heard from various sources that the company

has been unable to pay vendors in a timely manner in the past week and there is a risk that they

will have issues buying raw materials necessary to make product going forward.

John’s other top recommendations include BUY TPX, which brought him +14.5%. John reiterated

his BUY rating saying, “The company finally gave the Street something to cheer about in the

third quarter, with the Tempur North America retail business being up 2.4%, compared to the

prior year.”

John’s performance this year made the cut off for top analysts!


Furniture Brands International – FBNIQ (+56.6%): John recommended SELL FBNIQ

because, as he said at the time, “We believe some form of liquidation of the company or bank-


Conn’s —CONN (-1.4%): John recommended BUY CONN because he noted, “the company

continues to see very strong growth revenue and an expanding retail gross margin. Comparable

store sales of 16.5% were ahead of our model of roughly 13%.”

Documents

Top Ranked Analysts of 2013