Michael BrancaBarclaysMichael Branca of Barclays has appeared on the All-America Research Team every year since 1996 and is now in his fifth straight year in second place; he also captures third-place honors in Tobacco. In October 2011, after Fortune Brands split into two companies — Fortune Brands Home & Security and Beam — Branca dubbed the latter a top pick and urged clients to overweight the stock, making the case that the Deerfield, Illinois–based outfit would enjoy more-robust growth as a pure-play distributor of spirits and premixed cocktails. In August the company reported that net income had jumped 27.1 percent, to $100.5 million, from the first quarter to the second. By the end of that month, the stock had surged 32.3 percent, from $44.11 to $58.36, and beat the sector by 13.2 percentage points. “Mike Branca is simply different than the average sell-side analyst — his pen is mightier than the mouths of most others,” cheers one backer.