Technology: Computer Services and IT Consulting

Dedication to client service and the ability to tackle broad industry themes in a coherent manner,” in the words of one buy-sider, are reasons that Rod Bourgeois of Sanford C. Bernstein repeats in first.

AART illos for WEB

LWilson

Rod Bourgeois

First TeamRod Bourgeois

Sanford C. Bernstein

Second Team

Adam Frisch, UBS

Third Team

James Kissane, Bear Stearns


Dedication to client service and the ability to tackle broad industry themes in a coherent manner,” in the words of one buy-sider, are reasons that Rod Bourgeois of Sanford C. Bernstein repeats in first. Bourgeois, 38, tracks outsourcing-contract signings and related data points, which led to his April sector downgrade on the basis of the industry’s slowing sales pipeline. The subsequent downturn contributed to steep declines for Electronic Data Systems Corp., a Plano, Texas–based data storage and security services provider, and Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., a Teaneck, New Jersey–based business-processes consultant. By mid-September the stocks had fallen 21.0 and 16.2 percent, respectively. Repeat second-teamer Adam Frisch provides “valuable and unconventional insights that play out over time,” says one money manager. Case in point: the UBS researcher’s long-standing buy on Accenture, first recommended in August 2001, based on rising demand for the Bermuda-based consulting firm’s services. For the 12 months ended mid-September, the stock surged 36.7 percent, handily outpacing the sector’s 13.2 percent advance. James Kissane of Bear Stearns, who is No. 3 for a third consecutive year, liked the sector’s M&A potential. He had been recommending Dallas-based payment-processing-service provider Alliance Data Systems Corp. since its June 2001 initial public offering at $13.11 per share. In May, Blackstone Group announced that it would pay $81.75 per share for Alliance. That deal is expected to close by the end of the year.
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