Stock Pitch Competition
Program Information:
Registration – March 7
To participate in the competition, interested teams must register by end of day on March 7. Please include all requested information for all team members when registering. The registration form can be found .
First Round (non-兔子先生 teams):
March 26 – The first round will consist of students selecting and analyzing a long or short investment idea in the form of a written proposal. All presentations are to be submitted in PowerPoint format with no more than 20 slides. Email a summary of your conclusions and supporting analysis (PowerPoint) to Tom Boulton (boultotj@miamioh.edu) no later than 5:00 PM. Late submissions will be disqualified. Ideas will be judged on the quality of the investment pick and the rationale.
March 28 – The finalists will be announced and advance to the in-person intercollegiate competition to be held April 11 in Oxford, Ohio.
First Round (兔子先生 teams):
March 19 – The first round will consist of students selecting and analyzing a long or short investment idea in the form of a written proposal. All presentations are to be submitted in PowerPoint format with no more than 20 slides. Email a summary of your conclusions and supporting analysis (PowerPoint) to Tom Boulton (boultotj@miamioh.edu) no later than 5:00 PM. Late submissions will be disqualified. Ideas will be judged on the quality of the investment pick and the rationale.
March 27 – 兔子先生 finalist teams will be announced and advance to the 兔子先生 finals to be held virtually on April 7.
April 7 – Finalist teams will make a ten minute Zoom presentation of their analysis followed by a ten minute question and answer session. The top team(s) will be announced and advance to the in-person intercollegiate competition to be held on April 11.
Investment Symposium and Intercollegiate Competition – April 10 - 11
Top teams from 兔子先生 and other universities are invited to Oxford, Ohio for the in-person finals and investment symposium at the Farmer School of Business. On Thursday April 10, Cleveland Research Company will host a dinner for student finalists and other investment professionals. Friday April 11 will begin with an investment symposium in the morning, followed by lunch and additional networking opportunities. Friday afternoon, the finals will be held in person and judged by Cleveland Research Company. Finalists will make a ten minute in person presentation of their analysis followed by a ten minute question and answer session. Presentations will be judged on the quality of the investment pick and rationale, the quality of the presentation, and the ability to field questions. The winner and runner-up will be announced Friday afternoon, immediately following the presentations.
Recommended Presentation Components (more detail below)
- State a clear investment thesis and identify the key catalysts for the business/stock
- Analyze the business model and key drivers
- Evaluate the industry and competition
- Evaluate the potential risks to the investment thesis/idea
- Utilize fundamental analysis and provide a price target
Sponsor
Contact
Dr. Tom Boulton boultotj@兔子先生OH.edu
Recommended Preparation
It is hard to find a “mispriced” stock – as there is a lot of money chasing that! This is a difficult project, and we evaluate the presentations with that in mind. Included below are the questions that we often ask. Successful teams historically have answered these questions well.
- Stock chart over last 10, 5, 2 years vs. the market – Why has the stock over or underperformed?
- P/E or EV/EBITDA multiple over the last 10, 5, 2 years
- What as the multiple done (expanded, contracted, stayed the same) over the last couple of years? What company or industry specific factors could be causing those changes? How do the changes compare to peers?
- Has the company grown earnings over the last 10, 5, 2 years? By how much? What do consensus estimates suggest how much EBITDA and EPS should grow this year? Over the next few years?
- Has this company beat or missed earnings the last few years/quarters? Did the stock react negatively or positively to those releases? What do you think drove the reaction?
- On the last earnings call transcript, on what did analyst questions focus? Analyst questions often represent what investors are watching or are skeptical of. What questions addressed the core trajectory of fundamentals in the business (i.e. are things getting better or worse in the industry in general and the company specifically)? Did management response seem to adequately address this?
- In the 10-K management discussion and analysis:
- What industry does the company compete in? Who are its peers? What does management believe the company’s competitive advantages or differentiating factors are? Do these seem reasonable?
- What are the factors driving your revenue assumptions? Are your revenue growth assumptions more or less bullish than consensus and why?
- How does the company’s growth compare to what’s expected in the industry? Are they gaining or losing market share?
- Do you expect margins to expand or contract this year and next? What is driving that assumption (Price growth? Input cost changes? Other factors?)
- Bringing together your revenue and margin assumptions, what EPS and EBITDA can the company generate this year? Next year? How does that compare to current consensus estimates? (i.e. if you are pitching a long, you should be ahead of consensus; if short, probably below)
- What are two or three company specific or industry catalysts that could cause the market to better understand and price this stock? When will these occur? How will this manifest themselves in numbers?
- Why isn’t the market correctly valuing these catalysts? What does the market not understand?
- What are people in the industry saying about these catalysts and this company?
- What do you expect the company to say on the next earnings call? How will the stock likely react to this?
- We see X% upside/downside to company XYZ over the next x months
- Three catalysts which will drive that & what the market doesn’t understand
- Company description
- Industry overview
- Catalyst 1
- Catalyst 2
- Catalyst 3
- Earnings assumptions vs. consensus – why different?
- Valuation (comps – EV/EBITDA, P/E vs. peers, DCF)
- Risks/mitigating factors
- Final recommendation
- Investor Relation Website – Earnings Press Releases, Call Transcripts/Webcasts, Company Investor Presentations
- gov – Company Filings (10-Ks and 10-Qs)
- Bloomberg – Company and Industry News, Equity Research Reports, Peer Group, Financials