David Risinger |
David Risinger Merrill Lynch SECOND TEAM Timothy Anderson Sanford C. Bernstein THIRD TEAM C. Anthony Butler Barclays RUNNERS-UP Catherine Arnold Credit Suisse ; Jamilu Rubin Unaffiliated |
David Risinger, 39, finishes on top for a second straight year. The Merrill Lynch analyst “has the best take on what programs the majors have in the pipeline,” observes one money manager. Risinger downgraded Schering-Plough Corp. in January, at $25.26, when the Kenilworth, New Jersey–based company reported that its drug Vytorin didn’t appear to fight cholesterol much better than the generic alternative. In July, after the share price had fallen 20.6 percent, to $20.05, the analyst upgraded it to neutral. By mid-September the stock had slipped a further 6.5 percent, to $18.74. Unranked last year, Timothy Anderson of Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., who captures second, is “a master of uncovering long-term opportunities,” declares one buy-sider. Anderson upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. to outperform in June, believing that the New York–based company would likely buy cancer-drugmaker ImClone Systems. The following month, BMS announced a $4.5 billion unsolicited bid for the biopharmaceuticals outfit, and by mid-September its stock had surged 14.8 percent, 7.7 percentage points ahead of the sector. C. Anthony Butler, who moved to Barclays Capital after its parent acquired Lehman Brothers last month, rises from runner-up to third. Butler broke with the consensus in May and warned that Wyeth’s Alzheimer’s drug Bapineuzumab was unlikely to be the global blockbuster that other analysts were predicting. By mid-September shares of the Madison, New Jersey–based drug manufacturer had fallen 8.1 percent. “He kept us from buying into the hype, and so we escaped the disappointment,” says one grateful client.
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