Latika Chopra
J.P. Morgan
First-place appearances: 0

Total appearances: 3

Analyst debut: 2011

At No. 2 for a second consecutive year is J.P. Morgan analyst Latika Chopra, who also merits a runner-up position in Consumer/Staples. “We are cautious on the consumer discretionary space in India,” Chopra says. “Macro headwinds are weighing on consumer sentiment and squeezing the ability of consumers to spend on nonessential items.” In particular, she has been advising investors to sell shares of Noida-based Jubilant FoodWorks since June 2012, owing to her concerns about margin trajectory and slow same-store sales growth. Furthermore, the weak consumer sentiment only exacerbates those problems for the fast-food company, which operates Domino’s Pizza, Dunkin’ Donuts and other restaurants in India. She reiterated the call in February, at 1,199.95 rupees; and in April, when the stock had traded down to 1,098.45 rupees, she pounded the table. By the middle of October, Jubilant had inched up to 1,113.40 rupees, gaining 1.4 percent since February but trailing the sector by 8.9 percentage points. — Katie Gilbert