Michael Nathanson Nomura Securities International
The buy side says: “Michael is the best U.S. media analyst.
We merged Entertainment with Publishing & Advertising Agencies to create this new sector. Michael Nathanson, a runner-up last year in Entertainment and No. 1 in 2006–’09, shoots straight in to the top spot. The Nomura Securities International analyst “has more perspective on the media business than all of his competitors combined,” insists one advocate. Nathanson, 48, who joined the firm from Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in July 2010, relaunched coverage in early October 2010, naming CBS Corp. and Viacom as his top picks. He believed that in both cases that the Street was dramatically underappreciating earnings power and that managements of the New York–based diversified entertainment companies had become much more shareholder-friendly. Those calls proved “dead-on,” as one fan put it. CBS tuned in a gain of 54.6 percent, from $16.20 to $25.05, and Viacom shares surged 34.1 percent, from $35.97 to $48.24, through August. During the same period the sector rose 14.2 percent.