THIRD TEAM Christine Farkas  BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research

Christine Farkas “does amazingly comprehensive work on the industry and has been correctly bullish,” marvels one buy-side backer. Case in point: The BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research analyst, who takes third place for a third year running, has been encouraging investors to buy Philip Morris International since March 2008. She pounded the table in April, at $65.86, after the New York–based manufacturer of Marlboro, Merit, Virginia Slims and other cigarettes reported better-than-expected first-quarter results, including a 12.7 percent year-over-year increase in net income, to $1.92 billion. By late August the stock price had risen to $69.32, gaining 5.3 percent at a time when the sector advanced by 4.7 percent and the broad market lost 8.4 percent.