PEABODY — Zach Saporito, 18, won the 2024 Global Stock Pitch Competition at the Global Youth Investment Summit in New York City.

After first applying to the Young Investors Society’s competition in April, the Peabody resident beat out nearly 700 applicants from around the world to take home the $5,000 first-place prize and earned himself an internship at a financial firm this summer.

Saporito said the competition was to pitch a stock you expected to rise and prove to the judges why you chose the stock. He chose to present on Citigroup.

“They’re just going through a lot of restructuring,” he said. “Overall, they’re simplifying it. And I think that simplification is going to just drive them to be a more profitable and efficient bank.”

Saporito said his initial application to the competition includes a 10-page paper, a slide deck, and a 10-minute video presentation.

The top 100 applicants were invited to the summit in NYC at the end of May and he found out he made it to the next round through an Instagram post.

“I was zooming around (the post) and I saw my name. I was super surprised… I was like, ‘Oh my, oh my God,’” Saporito said.

The Global Youth Investment Summit was well organized and very busy, he said. It began with 100 competitors, which narrowed down to 24 in the next round, before the top five were announced and presented in front of the entire summit.

The judges announced the placements for the top-five finishers in descending order, Saporito said. “I heard second place’s name and it wasn’t mine — it was just crazy. I was full of shock… It was just unbelievable. I still can’t believe it.”

He said this experience helped improve his communication and stress management skills and increased his self-confidence.

“I don’t think my heart has raced as fast as it has for a while since I was there,” Saporito said. “It was really scary. You just have to take a step back.”

Saporito said he already deposited part of his $5,000 prize money to his brokerage account and plans to find more stocks to invest in.

He said his other prize, a one-month financial research summer internship opportunity for the top-three finishers, is “just a nice cherry on top” of competition results.

Saporito said he owes much of his success to Mr. Hennessey, a member of the St. John’s Prep class of 1983 who now teaches economics and is the moderator of the Investment Club at the school.

He said he began investing in middle school and continued to learn and practice his skills with his own money through the Investment Club at school.

Although this was the only stock competition he has participated in, Saporito said anyone interested in stocks and investing should seek out these opportunities.

He said it was a “great experience” beyond just the competition and his favorite part was a tour of the top floor of the Bloomberg office building.

After graduating from St. John’s Preparatory School May 18, Saporito said he plans to attend Indiana University this upcoming fall. He is interested in studying media and finance, but has not chosen a specific field of study yet.

Saporito’s first-place investment pitch can be found on the YIS Org Youtube page https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl2dUep3fD4.