Mark Schoenebaum | First TeamMark Schoenebaum Bear Stearns Second Team Geoffrey Porges, Sanford C. Bernstein Third Team Maykin Ho, Goldman Sachs Runners-Up Eric Ende, Merrill Lynch; Steven Harr, Morgan Stanley; Geoffrey Meacham, JPMorgan |
In the top spot for a third straight year is Mark Schoenebaum, the Bear Stearns analyst whose work is described by one buy-sider as “unique and refreshing.” Within his tightly bound universe — nine companies under active coverage — Schoenebaum, 34, delivers in-depth reports on the potential impact that clinical and market developments can have on individual stocks. In June he issued a contrarian downgrade on Idenix Pharmaceuticals, at $6.87, after the Cambridge, Massachusetts–based hepatitis drug developer reported seemingly good clinical results; Schoenebaum warned that the data were not good enough. The following month the Food and Drug Administration halted further testing, and by mid-September the stock had plunged 61.1 percent, to $2.67, while the sector advanced 1.4 percent. Repeating in second, Geoffrey Porges of Sanford C. Bernstein is “the most thorough analyst in his space, with extreme attention to detail,” according to one money manager. Porges downgraded Amgen in August 2006, at $70.92, warning that the Thousand Oaks, California, company’s product line was unlikely to generate sufficient sales to offset the legal costs associated with defending its core anemia-fighting franchise. In August 2007, with the stock down 29.4 percent, to $50.08, Porges anticipated a turnaround and urged investors to buy. Through mid-September the stock had bounced 12.5 percent. In third again is Maykin Ho, who “has voluminous knowledge, years of experience in the field and a kind of maturity of judgment,” according to one impressed investor. In August 2006 the Goldman Sachs researcher recommended MedImmune, a Gaithersburg, Maryland–based company best known for its flu vaccines, at $27.81. By April, with the shares up 36.1 percent, U.K. pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca launched an acquisition bid of $58.00 a share, generating an eight-month return of 108.6 percent. |