< The 2014 All-America Research TeamGeoffrey PorgesSanford C. Bernstein & Co.First-place appearances: 0
Total appearances: 11
Team debut: 2004Geoffrey Porges “has very good contacts with experts and managements, his service is very good, and his stock recommendations are very good as well,” cheers one fan of the Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. researcher, who earns his seventh consecutive third-place finish. Porges has been touting Alexion Pharmaceuticals since April, when he upgraded the shares from neutral to buy. He sees the Cheshire, Connecticut–based company as offering a highly defensive portfolio of breakthrough therapies for rare diseases — such as its blockbuster Soliris drug, used to treat two deadly blood disorders — and believes that the stock will benefit from a sustained 20 to 30 percent rate of revenue growth and significantly higher earnings expansion through 2017. Although the shares had advanced just 2 percent by the middle of September, to $160.42, the analyst believes that a price of $204 is justified.