Michael LinenbergDeutsche Bank SecuritiesDeutsche Bank Securities’ Michael Linenberg leaps from runner-up to second place. “I like the long-term industry theme pieces he does the best,” enthuses one investor. One recurring subject in the analyst’s coverage is unbundling, a practice in which some carriers slash their base fares, then generate additional revenue by charging for such services as checking baggage and reserving seats with extra legroom. Linenberg is particularly bullish on Spirit Airlines, which is headquartered in the Miami suburb of Miramar, Florida. Spirit is “one of the lowest-cost and most profitable airlines,” he says, and it “has taken the unbundling revenue concept to the next level.” The carrier managed to break through the $50 per passenger per flight segment level in ancillary fee generation in the first quarter while boasting the lowest airfares in the market, a formula that is producing “some of the industry’s best margins and pretax returns on invested capital — 30 percent over the past 12 months — which is off the charts for an airline and one of the highest returns among industrial stocks,” he explains.