While levels of actual and consensus forecast earnings per share (EPS) vary with scale (measured typically by share price), magnitudes of the difference do not vary with scale. That is, forecast errors within a certain range (e.g., plus/minus 5 cents per share) are equally likely for both...

We examine the effect on earnings forecast accuracy when financial analysts add or drop coverage. We find that the accuracy of analysts' first forecast for a firm (newly added coverage) is lower relative to their peers. In addition, the accuracy of their last forecast (just before coverage is...