J. Radhakrishnan
IIFL
First-place appearances: 0

Total appearances: 1

Analyst debut: 2013

Newcomer J. Radhakrishnan seizes second place. “An experienced analyst with a sharp eye for the numbers” is how one fund manager describes the IIFL analyst. Radhakrishnan tracks 15 stocks and specializes in covering the cement segment. In August 2011 he declared “the domestic cement cycle is in a trough” and predicted rising demand would outpace supply, which in turn would deliver pricing power to the most dominant suppliers. Continuing on that theme, he dubbed Shree Cement and UltraTech Cement his favorites from January 2012. Calcutta-based Shree supplies cement primarily to northern India, while Mumbai-based UltraTech produces a variety of cement products within the country and internationally. Through mid-October 2013 the stocks skyrocketed 114.4 percent, to 4,472.75 rupees, and 70.8 percent, to 1,974.30 rupees, respectively — both easily besting the sector’s 9.9 percent gain. They remain top picks, Radhakrishnan says, on strong earnings momentum. “We expect volume growth for these companies to exceed the industry growth, boosted by stabilization of new capacities,” he adds. — Ben Mattlin