Got rejection email after pitched company got crushed after earnings

I interviewed for a 2024 summer analyst role in ER.  Had to pitch a stock and the stock that I pitched fell 10% after earnings.  Got my rejection the next morning😭.  Honestly probably was unrelated but this is how I justify my rejection.

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Last September near the market bottom, I pitched a footwear/apparel stock as a long with the thesis that the consumer would remain resilient, the stock was cheap, and that the Street was way too negative on it. The analyst who interviewed me ended up downgrading the stock about a week later to my bear case PT, the stock ended up rallying almost 40% to my PT, and the consumer thesis completely played out. Suffice it to say, I didn't get that job. Still stings looking back on it. Chin up!

 
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For stock pitches, no one cares about the actual call versus hearing your thought process. As an analyst, you continuously make calls as the world changes, and many of your calls will end up being wrong. As a result, one call at a particular moment in time is usually of very little significance.

The reason this comes up in an interview is for an analyst to evaluate how you think about stocks and whether the thought process is reasonable and thorough.

One common mistake is to put too much emphasis on one call on one given day. This can reduce one's intellectual flexibility if the world changes or if you are proven incorrect. I once had an associate pitch me a stock with a very reasonable argument. But even as he was wrong with the call, he did nothing but reiterate that call for months afterwards even as it did not work.

 

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