< The 2014 All-America Research TeamWalter Pritchard IIICitiFirst-place appearances: 0

Total appearances: 2

Team debut: 2013At No. 3 is Walter Pritchard III, who debuted last year as a runner-up. Investors deem the San Francisco–based analyst’s output “balanced, reasoned and free of emotional hyperbole commonplace on the sell side,” as one portfolio manager puts it. This supporter also praises his “good calls on model transition stories and value plays,” noting that “value orientation enabled Pritchard to avoid overpriced hype jobs that have destroyed growth investors in 2014.” Indeed, the Citi researcher advises that “the challenge the sector faces overall is that it is ‘overowned,’ as technology investors are less excited about other sectors, especially hardware. For example,” he adds, “early in 2014 software was back to the average valuation overall and many ‘hypergrowth’ companies were trading at over ten times revenue, which historically is a very high watermark for valuation.” Reporting on 25 U.S. software companies, the analyst is “not too close to management that his views are compromised,” observes another admirer, “and not afraid to point out negatives to his thesis.”