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Matthew Troy | Matthew Troy Citi SECOND TEAM Jay Vleeschhouwer Merrill Lynch THIRD TEAM Caroline Sabbagha Barclays RUNNERS-UP Douglas Mitchelson Deutsche ; Spencer Wang JPMorgan |
Matthew Troy, 34, leaps from third place to capture his first No. 1 finish. Clients applaud the Citi analyst for his “long-term approach to stock selection” and for being “the most skeptical of management.” That skepticism extends to the entire sector. “The tenor of my franchise has been negative and bearish,” Troy says. “When things get tight, printing and copying expense is one of the first things to go.” His bearishness paid off, as the sector skidded 17.3 percent year-to-date through mid-September, underperforming the broad market by 2.5 percentage points. Troy earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration at Pennsylvania’s Bucknell University in 1996 and worked as an accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers before joining Citi in 1999 as a research associate. Jay Vleeschhouwer of Merrill Lynch, who jumps from runner-up to second place, “knows all of the management teams well enough, and long enough, to be able to tell when they are bluffing,” avers one admirer. Vleeschhouwer reiterated a long-standing buy on Adobe Systems in February, at $35.21, in a report predicting that the San Jose, California–based developer of digital-editing software would adopt a new pricing scheme that would spur sales — a move later confirmed by the company. Adobe’s share price had risen 14.9 percent by mid-September. After five years in second place, Caroline Sabbagha slips to third, but investors continue to compliment her “tenacity” and “outstanding industry contacts.” Sabbagha, now at Barclays Capital, following last month’s acquisition of Lehman Brothers, is also a fan of Adobe and highlighted her long-held buy in March, at $31.88, citing strong earnings growth. By mid-September the stock had zipped to $40.47.
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