Gatton Students Excel at Southeast Stock Pitch Competition

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 18, 2019) — University of Kentucky and Gatton College of Business and Economics students Michael Zhu, Will Smith and Frank Zhang recently traveled to the University of Georgia to compete in the annual Southeast Stock Pitch Competition hosted by the Terry School of Business. Their stock pitch, a value-based investment in Dollar Tree, was selected from a pool of approximately 50 submissions to participate in the semifinals in Athens. 

The group emerged victorious among their pool of four schools moving onto the final three. Missing the mark by a very narrow margin, they secured second place and will split a $2,000 cash prize. This prestigious competition includes the University of Virginia, the University of North Carolina, Emory University and the University of Florida, among many other schools competing for the $7,000 grand prize. 

"I'm super proud of our kids," said team advisor and Gatton adjunct finance professor, Quint Tatro. "They once again proved that they belong among the top finance programs in the country and are well prepared to handle any role in a prestigious Wall Street firm.” 

This is the third year students from UK have participated in this competition — each year securing a top-three spot and taking home the grand prize in last years' competition. Each of the three team members will graduate from UK in spring 2019 and all plan on continuing their careers at top Wall Street institutions. 

“It was encouraging to see all our hard work culminate in a second place finish,” Michael Zhu said. “Although we couldn't bring home first place, we learned a ton throughout the process and had a lot of fun as well."