Burkenroad Reports are a unique and highly regarded source of equity research focused on small, publicly traded companies that are often overlooked by Wall Street. Produced by teams of senior finance students at Tulane University's A.B. Freeman School of Business under the guidance of professor Peter Ricchiuti, these reports provide deep-dive analysis on what they affectionately call “stocks under rocks.” The program zeroes in on companies primarily located in the southern United States, a region rich with businesses that are too small to attract coverage from major investment banks. This lack of attention from mainstream analysts creates an information vacuum, which Burkenroad Reports brilliantly fill. For the savvy investor, this can be a goldmine, offering detailed, institutional-quality insights on potentially undervalued businesses long before they appear on the broader market's radar. It's a fantastic example of academic rigor meeting real-world value investing.
Why would a perfectly good company be ignored by the market? The answer often comes down to size and liquidity. Large investment firms typically focus on large-cap stocks where they can invest significant capital without moving the price. A small-cap company, no matter how well-run, simply doesn't have enough trading volume to be worthwhile for a massive fund. This creates a class of “orphan stocks”—companies with solid fundamentals but little to no analyst coverage. This is where the value investing magic happens. The market's neglect can lead to mispricing, where a company's stock trades for far less than its intrinsic value. Burkenroad Reports are built on the premise that diligent, on-the-ground research can uncover these hidden gems. By providing credible, in-depth analysis where none existed before, the reports help bridge the information gap, allowing investors to make informed decisions about businesses the rest of Wall Street has left behind.
The creation of a Burkenroad Report is a masterclass in hands-on investment analysis, blending academic theory with practical, shoe-leather investigation.
The program is not a simulation. Each year, teams of the university's top finance students are assigned a company to cover. They function as genuine sell-side analysts for the academic year. This model is a brilliant “win-win”: students gain invaluable real-world experience that looks spectacular on a resume, and investors get access to meticulously researched reports on underfollowed companies, free of the conflicts of interest that can sometimes plague traditional Wall Street research.
This is not just about crunching numbers in a library. The core of the Burkenroad process is primary research. Students travel to meet the companies they are covering. This involves:
A finished Burkenroad Report is a comprehensive document, typically 20-30 pages long, that provides a thorough business and financial overview. While the exact structure can vary, you can generally expect to find:
For individual investors practicing value investing, Burkenroad Reports are an exceptional resource. They are, first and foremost, a powerful idea-generation tool. They point you toward companies you would likely never find on your own. Furthermore, the reports serve as a fantastic starting point for your own due diligence. While the student analysts are sharp, they are still students. Their work should never be taken as direct investment advice or a substitute for your own judgment. Instead, use their detailed analysis to get up to speed on a business quickly, and then use it as a foundation to ask your own questions and come to your own conclusions. Think of it as having a team of bright, unpaid interns doing the initial legwork for you.