Sell-side analysts employ different benchmarks when defining their recommendations. A buy for some brokers means the stock is expected to outperform its industry, while for other brokers it means the stock is expected to outperform the market, or some return threshold. We show that these stated...

We offer a parsimonious index at the individual analyst level to measure the extent to which an analyst relies on earnings and long-term growth forecasts in her advice. Using this index, we evaluate the contribution of earnings and growth forecasts to the investment value of analysts’ stock...

We use a proprietary dataset to test the implications of several asymmetric information models on how short-lived private information affects trading strategies and liquidity provision. Our identification rests on information acquisition before analyst recommendations are publically announced....

Using recommendations and target prices on initial public offerings (IPOs), we examine the impact of regulations in the US and European Union (EU) markets that were aimed at curbing conflicts of interest in sell-side research. Conflicted analysts, proxied by whether their brokerage houses acted...

We examine earnings forecasts by sell-side analysts employed by a bank with a lending relationship with the covered firms. We find that lender-affiliated analysts' forecasts are more accurate than forecasts by their unaffiliated peers after establishment of the lending relationship. Evidence...