Christine Chen
Senior Analyst, Retail Apparel

Telephone: (415) 262-4877
Email: cechen@needhamco.com

Christine Chen joined Needham & Company in 2007. Christine joined Needham from Pacific Growth Equities, where she covered specialty apparel retailers. Previously, she was an analyst at Tiburon Research Group, an independent equity research group also focused on specialty retailers. Before TRG, she was a retail and consumer investment banker in Credit Suisse’s corporate finance department. Christine also spent three years in Morgan Stanley’s M&A department in New York and Hong Kong. She holds a BA in Economics from Berkeley and an MBA in Finance from Wharton.

Laura Martin, CFA
Senior Analyst, Entertainment, Cable & Media

Telephone: (212) 705-0294
Email: lmartin@needhamco.com

Laura Martin joined Needham & Company in 2009. Prior to joining Needham, she founded Media Metrics, LLC in 2003, publishing independent research about America’s largest entertainment, cable and internet companies, including Disney, News Corp., Time Warner, CBS, Viacom, Comcast, Google, Yahoo and eBay. Her research was distributed through Soleil Securities. Prior to that, she served as EVP of Financial Strategy & Investor Relations at Vivendi Universal in Paris. Laura has over 25 years of experience in the media and entertainment coverage universe, having joined Drexel, Burnham, Lambert’s investment banking division in 1983, and Capital Research & Management in 1990, where she managed $500 million of media equities. She also previously worked at Credit Suisse First Boston, where she was nationally ranked by Institutional Investor for four years in the cable & entertainment industries. She holds a BA in International Relations from Stanford and an MBA from Harvard. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Mark May, CFA
Senior Analyst, Internet Services & Digital Media

Telephone: (212) 705-0317
Email: mmay@needhamco.com

Mark May joined Needham & Company in 2005. His focus is covering companies in the Internet media, advertising, e-commerce and digital entertainment industries. Prior to Needham, Mr. May spent a total five years at Kaufman Bros. and JPMorgan Chase, focusing his coverage on the Internet and media industries. He is a graduate of the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.

Sean McGowan
Senior Analyst, Leisure & Lifestyle

Telephone: (212) 705-0466
Email: smcgowan@needhamco.com

Sean McGowan joined Needham & Company in 2007. Prior to that, Sean was at Wedbush Morgan, where he was managing director and associate director of research. In addition, he spent 20 years as an analyst covering toys and specialty retailers at Harris Nesbitt and its predecessors, including serving as director of research from 1998 to 2002. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from Hofstra University.

Charles Wolf
Senior Analyst, Digital Lifestyle

Telephone: (212) 705-0447
Email: cwolf@needhamco.com

Charles Wolf joined Needham & Company in 2000. Charlie is well known for his two signature publications, Wolf Bytes and Wolf Bits, which provide in-depth analysis of significant industry issues. Prior to Needham, he was an analyst at UBS Warburg from 1998 to 2000, where he covered the PC and enterprise hardware industries. Prior to that, he served the second of two terms at Credit Suisse First Boston from 1996 to 1998 as an analyst covering the PC industry (he first joined the equity research department at CSFB, then The First Boston Company, in 1984 and stayed until 1988). Between 1993 and 1996, Charlie was a consultant to CS First Boston, managing the “New Analysts Program” and writing on the Economic Value Added approach to stock analysis. From 1988 and 1993, he was elected to Institutional Investor’s “All-America Research Team” in the personal computer industry category. He began an 18-year career in the Finance Division of the Columbia Business School in 1966, rising from assistant professor to professor, during which time he published many articles on financial economics and decision theory in major academic journals. He is also co-author of The Role of Private Placements in Corporate Finance, published by Harvard University Press. He earned his AB, MBA and DBA degrees from Harvard.

Paula Torch
Research Associate, Retail Apparel

Telephone: (415) 262-4869
Email: ptorch@needhamco.com