Ben Chaiken

The 3-person Gaming, Lodging, Leisure team is known for its track record of non-consensus stock ratings, and meticulous fundamental research. For example, Ben has done thoughtful and differentiated analysis in the cruise space, dissecting revenue drivers and diverging balance sheet trends, which has led to significant alpha in the group (e.g., deep dive on private islands and TX opportunity). Additionally, Ben has done unique work on Hyatt analyzing the credit card opportunity and future NUG growth trajectory. More recently, Ben has been vocal regarding his view of Economy & Midscale hotel outperformance, which was a non-consensus position at the time of his WH upgrade. Ben took a non-consensus view towards PRKS, analyzing the history and  impact of new competition with the only Underperform rating on the street, as well as more conservative stance on LNW and their ability to maintain the current trajectory of growth, with the only Underperform rating on the street. Ben has also done thoughtful work on DKNG, dissecting the moving parts of value creation over the long run. ​

Ben joined Mizuho in September 2023 as a senior analyst covering Gaming, Lodging and Leisure based in New York.​ Prior to Mizuho, Ben worked at Credit Suisse and Tide Point Capital, covering the Gaming, Lodging and Leisure industries. He has nearly a decade of experience working on both the buy- and sell-side. Ben began his career at Sun Trust Robinson Humphrey as an associate covering Media and Telecommunications. ​Ben was ranked the #1 stock picker by Thomson Reuters for ‘Hotels and Leisure.’ Ben was also named to Business Insiders ‘Rising Stars of Equity Research.’​ He holds a Bachelor’s in Finance from the University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business.