Ten Analysts Put Their Money on One Stock Each

Pick % Down From April 2008 The Expert & The Case Patterson-UTI EnergyOnshore energy drilling -54% Eric Cinnamond Manager, Intrepid Small Cap Fund: “Oil-production companies still have a lot of value, with a lot of long-lived assets that haven’t gone away. But the market is telling you right now that no value was created over the past four years. Patterson-UTI’s stock is at 13.5, and we think that it’s worth 20.” Life Technologies Corp.Life-science research systems -35%** formerly
Invitrogen Corp. Quintin Lai Senior research analyst, Robert W. Baird & Co.: “The academic and government sectors for research and development are probably the most robust areas for growth, given the big NIH stimulus package. Life specializes in consumable instruments for life-sciences research, including genetics, protein, and cellular research. If you look at where the areas for R&D are going—cancer research, stem-cell research—a lot of those will benefit Life.” SunPowerSolar panels and equipment -74% Jesse Pichel Senior research analyst, Piper Jaffray: “Given upcoming ‘green’ stimulus spending worldwide, 2010 is setting up to be a very big year for solar. We also see demand from the Middle East beginning in 2010–11 that no one is talking about. SunPower is the preferred solar solution for residential installs and is winning the lion’s share of commercial- and utility-scale installations. The stock is down significantly, and we think the low 20s is a good price to pay near term.” CiscoInternet networking -33% Barry Ritholtz CEO, FusionIQ: “Cisco is the biggest Internet-related name with a real business underneath it. All the companies currently having trouble made major game-changing acquisitions that have been disastrous. But I think CEO John Chambers has perfected the art of the small strategic acquisition, and Cisco’s position for Internet, fiber, copper, and cable is in the right place. If they end up getting added to the Dow, that will add a little juice.” MTN GroupTelecommunications -25% Mark Mobius Executive chairman, Templeton Asset Management: “MTN is Africa’s largest cellular network in terms of subscribers and has the most expansive reach in Africa. It is well positioned to benefit from the growing need for telecommunications services in the region with exposure to growth markets that have low penetration rates.” Dow Jones–AIG Commodity Index -49% Gregg Fisher President and CIO, Gerstein Fisher: “There’s a huge, increasing global shortage of water and a corresponding demand for water infrastructure. The Dow Jones–AIG index is a broadly diverse basket of commodities, about a third of which is in agriculture and food. It’s an indirect way of owning water.” VisaCredit card -30% Jason Kupferberg Analyst, UBS: “Visa’s and MasterCard’s business models are very difficult to rival—they essentially have a duopoly in terms of the payment networks, and the brands are significant assets. About 40 percent of spending in the U.S. is still done with cash and checks, which means there’s still a lot of headroom for these companies to gain share.” The Estée Lauder CompaniesBeauty -41% Linda Bolton Weiser Managing director, Caris & Co.: “Over the years, Estée Lauder has been really good at driving sales growth, but their cost controls have been very poor. But the Lauder family has finally decided they want to improve profitability. William Lauder is going to step aside as CEO on July 1 for Fabrizio Freda, who was brought in as president and has proved himself thus far.” HuntsmanChemicals -81% Whitney Tilson Managing partner, T2 Partners: “Hexion, a private company owned by Apollo, offered Huntsman $28 a share at the peak of the bubble. Apollo later sued to get out of the deal and lost. In Huntsman’s countersuit, they settled with Hexion/Apollo for $1 billion. Huntsman still has what we think is a very good case against Apollo’s bankers, and that goes to negotiations May 11. There could be a $2 billion settlement, and the stock could easily double.” Genuine Parts CompanyAuto-parts distribution -21% Efraim Levy Equity analyst, Standard & Poor’s: “I only have one stock in the auto industry where I’m actually recommending purchase at this time. GPC’s balance sheet is strong, which is very important in this environment. The median vehicle age in the U.S. is at a near record of more than nine years old, which means people are more likely to buy parts to fix up their cars. This is good for GPC—they focus on the replacement market.”

Ten Analysts Put Their Money on One Stock Each