Get to know Gil Luria, Managing Director, Head of Technology Research
Gil compares his passion for stocks to sports: the scoreboard shows the wins.
1. Can you describe your role and key responsibilities?
As Head of Technology Research, I work with a team of analysts covering all the most exciting stocks, from the largest companies in the land—Microsoft, NVIDIA, Apple, Google, Amazon, and Meta—to the most cutting-edge software companies like Palantir, Snowflake, and Datadog. We spend our days trying to unravel the latest developments in artificial intelligence and attempting to predict the future: which stocks will go up and which stocks will go down?
2. What motivated you to pursue a career in finance, and what keeps you passionate about your work?
My favorite thing is talking about stocks with super smart people, and that is what I get to do every day. We talk to the management teams of the biggest technology companies about their strategies, and with institutional investors (mutual fund and hedge fund managers) about their investments and how they see the world evolving. This is the most fun someone can have outside of talking about sports all day. Just as in sports, there is a scoreboard to see if you are right: it is on every weekday between 9:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Eastern.
3. How has the industry evolved since you started, and what significant changes have you observed?
Everything is faster and the tools are much better. When I started in the business 25 years ago, there was a lot more long-form research, with hundreds of pages and hundreds of charts, and the dissemination was mostly over the phone and in meetings. These days, the amount of information and the rate it is generated is at a different level, as are the frequency and magnitude of stock moves.
4. What skills do you believe are essential for success in your field, and how do you cultivate them?
The key traits we look for are natural curiosity for stocks and how the world works, originality of thinking, and a tireless work ethic. There is always something new to learn, and when you stop learning, you become irrelevant.
5. Can you share a memorable project or deal you’ve worked on and what made it stand out?
My favorite episode was hearing through contacts in the technology arena that ChatGPT had become available to the public at the end of November 2022. I spent a sleepless 24 hours straight asking it questions and prompting it to write poetry. I immediately realized that we had passed the Turing test for the first time in the history of humanity. That led my team to publish the very first Wall Street research report on ChatGPT, predicting it would be one of the most transformative products in history.
6. How do you balance the demands of your job with your personal life?
My sons have always and will always come first. Everybody at D.A. Davidson knows that and has been incredibly supportive of that choice. That helps put everything else in perspective. Stocks go up, stocks go down, and they will tomorrow as well.
7. What advice would you give to someone just starting out in your field?
Follow the markets and actively invest whatever you can afford. Watch CNBC and Bloomberg; read the Wall Street Journal and other relevant business publications. They are all writing the diary of the American dream—you just have to follow along.
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