2008 Headlines
Johnson School Announces Winners of 7th Annual Stock Pitch Competition
Tuck School of Business takes top honors
November 13, 2008 | Ithaca, NY | A three-person team from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth University has captured the title and a $4,500 prize at the seventh annual Cornell-Fidelity MBA Stock Pitch Competition that took place at the Parker Center for Investment Research at the Johnson School at Cornell University on November 7, 2008.
Besting competitors from the top universities nationwide, the Tuck team included first year MBA students Wray Barber, Ryan Degrass and Claire Voorhees. The winning team pitched buys for Jet Blue (JBLU) and Strayer Education (STRA) to make it to the final round. In the finals, Ryan Degrass pitched a sell for Motorola (MOT) and offered a one year price target of $3.90, a 14 percent discount from the closing price on November 6, 2008. Degrass believes the company represents a "value trap due to deteriorating fundamentals" and suggested the lack of innovative products from the Mobile Services division and the over-reliance on the CDMA platform will cause the company to rapidly lose market share.
The team from Wharton picked up second place and $2,250 with Lee Bressler pitching a buy for Blackberry maker Research in Motion (RIMM). Bressler is bullish on the handheld market in general commenting that the market doesn't feature "winner take all" characteristics, and suggesting there's upside for a number of competitors despite the tough consumer market.
Sanjeev Bhojraj, associate professor of accounting and faculty director of the Parker Center for Investment Research commented, "This competition is an opportunity for leading MBA students to test their financial acumen and pitch stocks to a panel of industry professionals. They face incredible time pressure to pull together three stock pitches in 12 hours. This competition mimics the pressure and stand-and-deliver skills MBA students need to make it as research analysts."
Harry Lange, the portfolio manager for Fidelity Magellan Fund, presented the keynote address at lunch to a crowd that was eager to learn from one of the most accomplished investment managers in the industry. Lange offered his thoughts on causes and implications of the current financial crisis, and how he has positioned Magellan Fund. He also provided his recruiting tips to the students,
many of whom are eager to find investment jobs after graduation. His advice to all was to, "stay calm and stay focused."
The field was extremely competitive this year with teams from leading MBA programs nationwide attending including: Columbia Graduate School of Business, Cornell University's Johnson School, Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business, Duke's Fuqua School of Business, MIT Sloan School of Business, New York University's Stern School of Business, Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Business, the University of California at Berkeley's Haas School of Business, University of Maryland's R.H. Smith School of Business, University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, Wharton, and Yale.
Fidelity Investments is the lead sponsor this year. Other sponsors include: Johnson School alumnus and private investor Jack Ferraro (MBA '70), Barclays Global Investors, CFA Institute, Wellington Management, and State Street Global Advisors. Sponsorship affords the right to send both a judge and a recruiter to the competition, which has become an opportunity for investment research recruiters to gain early access to top students from leading universities across the United States.
For more information on the MBA Stock Pitch Competition, visit www.mbastockpitch.com.
