This study compares the profitability of security recommendations issued by investment banks and independent research firms. During the 1996 through mid-2003 time period, the average daily abnormal return to independent research firm buy recommendations exceeds that of the investment banks by...

This paper compares Value Line and I/B/E/S analyst earnings forecasts in terms of accuracy, rationality, and as proxies for market expectations. Using more recent data and forming consensus forecasts from the I/B/E/S detail files, we reach different conclusions than Philbrick and Ricks [1991],...

This paper develops a taxonomy of research examining the role of financial analysts in capital markets. The paper builds on the perspectives provided by Schipper [Schipper, K. (1991). Analysts' forecasts. Accounting Horizons, 5, 105-131] and Brown [Brown, L. (1993). Earnings forecasting...

From January 1996 through June 2003, the average daily abnormal return to independent research firm buy recommendations exceeds that of investment bank buy recommendations by 3.1 basis points (almost 8 percentage points annualized). Investment bank buy recommendation underperformance is more...

This paper analyzes the distribution of stock ratings at investment banks and brokerage firms and examines whether these distributions can predict the profitability of analysts' recommendations. We document that the percentage of buys decreased steadily starting in mid-2000, likely due, at least...

We catalog the complete contents of All-American Analyst reports and examine the market reaction to their release. Including the justifications supporting an analyst's opinion reduces, and in some models eliminates, the significance of earnings forecasts and recommendation revisions. Analysts...

We show that abnormal returns to analysts' recommendations stem from both the ratings levels assigned as well as the changes in those ratings. Conditional on the ratings change, buy and strong buy recommendations have greater returns than do holds, sells, and strong sells. Conditional on the...

The existing replication policies at top finance journals are far weaker than the policies at top economics journals. This paper explores both the costs and benefits of having a stronger replication policy in the context of my failed 2010 initiative to develop a unified policy across all top...

This paper studies the effect of regulations on sell-side analysts' research. These regulations - NASD Rule 2711, NYSE Rule 472, and the Global Analyst Research Settlement - attempted to mitigate the interdependence between research and investment bank departments of U.S. brokerage houses. We...

We find that analysts who issue more accurate earnings forecasts also issue more profitable stock recommendations. The average factor-adjusted return associated with the recommendations of analysts in the highest accuracy quintile exceeds the corresponding return for analysts in the lowest...