We demonstrate that time stamps reported in I/B/E/S for analysts' recommendations released during trading hours are systematically delayed. Using newswire-reported time stamps, we find 30-minute returns of 1.83% (-2.10%) for upgrades (downgrades), but for this subset of recommendations we find...

Between 2009 and 2013, Theflyonthewall.com (FLY) leaks 58% of recommendation revisions with a median delay of 27 minutes relative to the I/B/E/S announcement time. We show FLY improves price discovery, but leaked recommendations hamper the ability of brokers to offer price improvement on trades...