| Felicia Hendrix rises from runner-up to reclaim third place, the position she held from 2006 through 2009. The Barclays analyst, who has been generally bearish for much of the past year, “saved me money by keeping me out of the group,” observes one buy-side enthusiast. Hendrix is cautiously optimistic on a couple of stocks — Royal Caribbean Cruises and Vail Resorts — that she thinks will perform well over the long term. “Given historic low supply in the cruise industry and no new ship deliveries for Royal Caribbean in 2013 — coupled with ‘easy comps’” — that is, year-over-year comparisons that are likely to be favorable, owing to disappointing performance this year — Hendrix says, she expects the Miami-based cruise line’s stock to rally next year. She is similarly upbeat about the Broomfield, Colorado–based resort operator’s prospects but acknowledges that if snowfall is plentiful in the 2012–’13 ski season, “a return to normalized skier visits could render our current estimates and price target too low.” RUNNER(S)-UP Timothy Conder |
