Adam Holt Morgan Stanley
The buy side says: “Adam is a ‘must’ analyst to speak to.”
Morgan Stanley’s Adam Holt repeats in first place. “Adam has better access to top management in the software sector than any other analyst — so he understands how they think and why they act,” says one ally. In addition, the San Francisco–based researcher “had some exceptional stock calls” over the past year, notes another investor. Here’s one: Holt, 37, prodded investors to overweight Intuit in May 2010, at $36.09, making the case that the financial software giant had evolved from a product provider to a platform for small businesses — and therefore was poised for accelerated growth. In July 2011, with the stock up 45 percent, at $52.34, and ahead of the sector by 35.9 percentage points, Holt downgraded it to equal weight, believing his thesis had largely played out. By late August the stock had slipped to $49.33. “He’s not singularly good at access, or industry knowledge, or modeling or stock picking — he’s good at all of them,” says one supporter.