This study investigates whether analysts who pay attention to investor sentiment issue more or less profitable stock recommendations than their peers. We find that analysts whose stock recommendations are positively correlated with recent or future investor sentiment tend to issue relatively...

We survey 344 buy-side analysts from 181 investment firms and conduct 16 detailed follow-up interviews to gain insights into the activities of buy-side analysts, including the determinants of their compensation, the inputs to their stock recommendations, their beliefs about financial reporting...

We examine whether brokerage firms can identify differences in innate ability when hiring analysts. When the local unemployment rate is high, there will be a larger pool of job candidates per analyst job than when the unemployment rate is low. If brokerage houses can identify differences in...

Our objective is to penetrate the “black box” of sell-side financial analysts by providing new insights into the inputs analysts use and the incentives they face. We survey 365 analysts and conduct 18 follow-up interviews covering a wide range of topics, including the inputs to analysts'...