Michael Briest & team, UBS
The buy side says: “They’re big-picture thinkers who don’t lose sight of the details.”
The UBS duo led by London-based Michael Briest is No. 1 for a fourth year running. The analysts cover 14 stocks, down from 15 following Hewlett-Packard Co.’s October acquisition of Autonomy Corp., a U.K.-based developer of search software. “M&A activity will likely remain a theme in 2012, as will the impact of cloud delivery on traditional software and services business models,” says Briest, 39. “With product cycles gaining momentum at both SAP and Dassault Systèmes; cash returns committed to at Sage Group, Misys and Micro Focus International; and M&A speculation likely to remain in place following HP’s acquisition of Autonomy, we see continued outperformance,” compared with the broader information-technology services sector. They have been bullish on Switzerland’s Temenos Group since October, at Sf11.65, on valuation. The bank-software developer’s stock bolted 31.8 percent, to Sf15.35, through December.
