< The 2015 All-Europe Research Team
Ana Munera Jimenez & team
BBVA
First-place appearances: 0
Total appearances: 5
Team debut: 1995
Although the 12-strong, Madrid-based BBVA squad under the leadership of Ana Munera Jimenez slips from second place to third, investors continue to appreciate these researchers’ broad coverage, which spans some 80 Iberian names. Among the team’s favorites in this group is Telefónica, Spain’s second-largest listed company, by market capitalization, after Banco Santander. The broadband and telecommunications giant is making “remarkable progress on building more solid local franchises” and consolidating operations, especially in Germany and Brazil, says Munera, which should prove “highly accretive.” Moreover, the analysts see great potential in its home market for Telefónica’s relaunched Internet-protocol television, or IPTV. The technology provides such services as video-on-demand and live streaming of television programming, and they expect it to appeal largely to a high-end, upscale audience. Indeed, they reckon that IPTV alone could increase the value of the Spanish franchise by €2.1 billion ($2.4 billion), or nearly €0.5 per share. Telefónica’s stock was trading at €13.36 at the end of last month, and the BBVA crew believes that a price of €14.20 is reasonable.