In this paper, we propose a rational learning-based explanation for the predictability in financial analysts' earnings forecast errors documented in prior literature. In particular, we argue that the serial correlation pattern in analysts' quarterly earnings forecast errors is consistent with an...

We examine whether Regulation FD has reduced the informativeness of analysts' information outputs. For a sample of financial analysts' earnings forecasts and recommendations released in a two-year window around Regulation FD's effective date, we show that in the post-Regulation FD period the...

We examine the determinants and the informativeness of financial analysts' risk ratings using a large sample of research reports issued by Salomon Smith Barney, now Citigroup, over the period of 1997 to 2003. We find that the cross-sectional variation in risk ratings is largely explained by...

We examine whether increased competition stemming from technological innovation disciplines sell-side analysts. We document a decline in short-term forecast bias for firms added to Estimize, an open platform that crowdsources short-term earnings forecasts, relative to matched control firms; this...

We present new evidence that highlights the role of information intermediaries in the distribution and processing of earnings estimates in capital markets. We find that the time taken to activate an analyst's earnings forecast in the Thomson Reuters Institutional Brokers' Estimate System is...

Debt research places greater importance on cash flow analysis and credit rating prediction than does equity research and is only available to equity analysts employed by the same broker. We show that equity analysts with access to high quality debt research issue cash flow forecasts for...

We study the effects of social media on the informativeness of retail investor trading. Our identification strategy exploits the editorial delay between report submission and publication on Seeking Alpha, a popular crowdsourced investment research platform. We find the ability of retail order...

A consensus forecast commonly represents a simple average, or equal weighting, of individual analyst forecasts. We demonstrate, however, that an equal-weight consensus generally does not aggregate information in individual analyst forecasts efficiently and that an aggregation scheme informed by...