< The 2015 All-Europe Research Team

Total appearances: 2

Team debut: 2014

At No. 3, up one step from last year’s runner-up debut, are David Perry and his J.P. Morgan Cazenove teammate. Perry joined the firm in February 2013 from Goldman Sachs International, whose squad he led to third place in 2011 and 2012. The J.P. Morgan analysts earn investor favor in part because they are “tremendously hard-working,” one fund manager says. Headquartered in London, they monitor 13 regional aerospace and defense companies. France’s Zodiac Aerospace is among their favorite names, thanks to its strong sales growth as well as its positioning as a likely beneficiary of low oil prices. The pair initiated reporting on the aircraft- and weapons-gear maker in September 2013 with an outperform rating, citing expansion of both earnings and multiples. Already a prominent supplier of aircraft-safety equipment and related niche technologies, through acquisitions Zodiac had become a dominant player in airplane interiors, the researchers note. Management cautioned last fall that the measures it was taking to resolve delays in deliveries of aircraft galleys and seating would pressure margins, and the stock tumbled. But by the end of last month, it had recovered to best its regional peers by 20.9 percentage points since Perry and his colleague launched coverage, rising 26 percent, to €29.47. They have assigned Zodiac a price objective of €32.50.