The buy side says: “He has a good grasp of the big picture, without losing sight of the details.”
James Covello of Goldman, Sachs & Co., who repeats in the top spot, “is very detail-oriented, does good channel checks and sticks with his convictions,” avers one backer. The 37-year-old analyst downgraded FormFactor from neutral to sell in April, at $16, saying continued weakness in the dynamic random access memory market would put pressure on margins, but the company could not restructure operations quickly enough to increase its supply of products in greater demand. By the end of August, shares of the Livermore, California–based maker of cards used to test DRAM, flash memory and similar devices had plummeted 56.3 percent, to $7, and trailed the sector by 32.5 percentage points. “Jim brings an important perspective to the equipment outlook that comes from covering semiconductor devices, and he presents his case in a clear and interesting way,” says one money manager. This view is echoed by another buy-side supporter: “Whether one agrees or disagrees with his assessment of the cycle at any point in time, at least with Jim you will clearly understand why he is positioned the way he is.”
