< The 2015 All-America Research Team

Total appearances: 6

Analyst debut: 2010

Morgan Stanley’s Kathryn Huberty repeated in second place on the IT Hardware roster last year and retains that position on this lineup, which reflects coverage of that sector as well as the Technology Supply Chain category. “Katy has supported her bold opinions with hard facts, which sets her apart from the vast majority of her peers,” says one admirer, who also values “her willingness to make negative calls on stocks.” Similarly, another fund manager hails her “great graphs and charts, which help tell the story, whether positive or negative.” The 38-year-old analyst monitors 15 information technology hardware companies, and in June she lowered her position on the sector from in-line to cautious, citing a slowdown in cloud-related capital expenditure development. “Cloud data center growth has provided a cushion to offset weak spend in traditional enterprise and consumer segments in the past three years,” Huberty advises. “We think the cushion may thin near-term and offer greater visibility on underlying weakness in enterprise and commercial segments. Our June CIO survey pointed to incremental enterprise IT budget weakness, which combined with the cloud capex downtick drove several estimate and ratings cuts across our global tech research coverage.” She prefers companies with sustainable fundamentals, such as Cupertino, California–based consumer electronics manufacturer Apple. On this name one investor especially values the researcher’s tracking of supply chain data. Additional Huberty favorites include Palo Alto, California’s Hewlett-Packard Co., a leading enterprise hardware provider that gets the nod for its strategic catalysts; and Nimble Storage of San Jose, California, which offers flash-optimized storage platforms and boasts structural growth advantages, she contends.