second team Justin Post BofA Merrill Lynch
third team Imran Khan J.P. Morgan
Mark Mahaney is “always on top of things,” asserts one money manager. The Citi analyst is also on top of the sector for a second straight year. Mahaney, 43, upgraded online travel services provider Expedia from hold to buy in March, at $7.65, because of the former Microsoft Corp. subsidiary’s move to eliminate booking fees at a time of declining leisure travel. He also liked the Bellevue, Washington–based company’s strong prospects for revenue growth acceleration in 2010. The stock had skyrocketed to $23.05 by August 31, an eye-popping 201.3 percent advance that made the sector’s 28.2 percent gain look as if it hadn’t left the departure lounge.
A bullish call on an online travel agency helps lift Justin Post from runner-up to second place. Backers say the BofA Merrill analyst offers a “unique perspective” and “doesn’t just repeat what everyone else is saying.” Post recommended Priceline.com in January, at $73.65, calling investors’ attention to the Norwalk, Connecticut–based company’s growing market share, and he reiterated the call in July. Priceline’s share price surged 109.1 percent in the first eight months of the year, to $153.98.
Imran Khan of J.P. Morgan, who drops one notch to third, “knows his companies inside and out — no detail escapes his attention,” marvels one client. Khan’s best calls of the past year include a January upgrade to overweight on Amazon.com, on the belief that a short-term consumer-spending slowdown would not hamper the Seattle-based online superstore’s long-term growth prospects. The stock outperformed the broad market by 39.9 percentage points, through August.
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