| Unranked last year, Omar Saad shoots straight to first place; the ISI Group analyst also nabs a runner-up spot in Retailing/Specialty Stores. “He has a great perspective on where the global consumer’s shopping habits are headed over the long run, at a time when many analysts are overly focused on the next quarterly earnings report,” contends one client. Although Saad has been a long-term bull on makers of luxury goods — “given their competitive advantages in branding, global reach, pricing power and flexible business models” — he says those companies are suffering from negative market sentiment owing to global economic uncertainty. Instead, Saad urged clients to buy Framingham, Massachusetts–based TJX Cos. in October 2011, at $28.59. “Their secret weapon is the ability to curate an appropriate mix of basics and the right fashion in a more timely and effective manner than other U.S. specialty retailers,” he says. The stock bolted 60.2 percent, to $45.79, through August. Saad, 39, covered the sector for six years at Credit Suisse before joining ISI in May 2011; he earned an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. |
Consumer – Apparel, Footwear & Textiles: First
October 16, 2012
