< The 2014 All-America Research Team
Total Appearances: 10
Analyst Debut: 2005With his first-place finish this year, All-America Research Team Hall of Famer Mark Schoenebaum logs an unbroken decade as buy-siders’ preferred U.S. biotechnology analyst. He also repeats in the No. 1 spot in Pharmaceuticals/Major. Indeed, the 41-year-old ISI Group researcher “has a deep knowledge base from his accrued time as an analyst as well as perspective from his medical training,” attests one fund manager. “He is very outgoing and proactive in delivering information, and very accessible and timely in his responses.” Schoenebaum expects U.S. biotechnology shares to return 5 percent through year’s end, following their rise of 20.7 percent in 2014 through mid-September, which outperformed the nation’s broad market by 13.4 percentage points. As he has done for several years, the researcher favors Gilead Sciences of Foster City, California, which develops biotherapeutics for treatment of liver disease, serious cardiovascular and respiratory conditions and other life-threatening illnesses. In mid-September, Gilead’s shares were up 34.5 percent for the year to date, at $100.99. They trade at a single-digit price-earnings ratio, he notes, despite huge projected near-term earnings-per-share growth. “I think they will earn at least $10 next year,” says Schoenebaum. He also applauds the company’s management team. “They have done two of the best acquisitions in the history of biotech,” he says. “I would be willing to bet they can do it again.”