< The 2015 All-America Research Team

Total appearances: 3

Analyst debut: 2013

Last year RBC Capital Markets’ Michael Yee logged his second straight runner-up showing on the Biotechnology roster. That category is replaced this year by Large-Cap and Mid- & Small-Cap sectors, and Yee earns an appearance on each list, at runner-up and No. 2, respectively. The 36-year-old analyst received a bachelor’s degree in molecular cell biology from the University of California, Berkeley, and holds an MBA from that institution’s Haas School of Business. He began his equity research career covering life science tools companies at Thomas Weisel Partners and Deutsche Bank Securities, then moved to W.R. Hambrecht & Co., where he tracked biotechnology names. In April 2005 he signed on with RBC. Yee “is key to my investment process in biotech,” one admirer reports. “He’s the first sell-side analyst that I send an e-mail to for anything — I wish I had a Mike Yee in the other space I cover.” Strong secular fundamentals have fueled Yee’s positive outlook on the sector this year. “Our view is that we are in a major innovation cycle supported by improved drug discovery knowledge, smarter science and new technologies and platforms with promising potential,” the San Francisco–based researcher reports. “Add in significant capital investment and [a Food and Drug Administration] that has been a bit more collaborative with industry, and we have the workings for meaningful value creation during this cycle.” He is especially upbeat on the prospects for Ireland’s Prothena Corp., citing the promise of two drugs in development — NEOD001 and PRX002, respectively, for the treatment of amyloidosis and of Parkinson’s disease — that are entering mid- to late-stage clinical trials. “Each of these two could be blockbusters and will have much more data presented over the next 12 to 24 months,” Yee forecasts. His price target for the stock is $75, which implies a 16.3 percent upside to its value in mid-September. “Yee’s hustle cannot be disputed,” a second client insists. Indeed, another backer concurs, he “is the most responsive and hardest-working biotech analyst out there. He responds to e-mails day and night. Also, it’s rare to see a sell-side analyst who understands both the potential short-term trading catalysts and the long-term fundamentals of the stock.”