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    • News  (6)
    • Research  (90)
  • Faculty Publications  (56)

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  • All HBS Web  (101)
    • News  (6)
    • Research  (90)
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  • March 2014
  • Article

Private Interaction Between Firm Management and Sell-Side Analysts

By: Eugene F. Soltes
Although sell-side analysts often privately interact with managers of publicly traded firms, the private nature of this contact has historically obscured direction examination. By examining a set of proprietary records compiled by a large-cap NYSE traded firm, I offer... View Details
Keywords: Sell-side Analysts; Management; Interpersonal Communication
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Soltes, Eugene F. "Private Interaction Between Firm Management and Sell-Side Analysts." Journal of Accounting Research 52, no. 1 (March 2014): 245–272.
  • Article

Does the Scope of the Sell-Side Analyst Industry Matter? An Examination of Bias, Accuracy, and Information Content of Analyst Reports

By: Kenneth Merkley, Roni Michaely and Joseph Pacelli
We examine changes in the scope of the sell-side analyst industry and whether these changes impact information dissemination and the quality of analysts’ reports. Our findings suggest that changes in the number of analysts covering an industry impact analyst... View Details
Keywords: Analyst Industry; Sell-side Analysts; Analyst Reports; Finance; Analysis; Information; Reports; Quality; Financial Services Industry
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Merkley, Kenneth, Roni Michaely, and Joseph Pacelli. "Does the Scope of the Sell-Side Analyst Industry Matter? An Examination of Bias, Accuracy, and Information Content of Analyst Reports." Journal of Finance 72, no. 3 (June 2017): 1285–1334.
  • Research Summary

Sell-Side Analysts and Legacy Spinoffs

This paper investigates how well analysts do at evaluating spinoffs of legacy businesses vis-à-vis other spinoffs.  Analysts appear to be far more conservative in the earnings forecasts they make for legacy businesses and their parents than they are for... View Details

  • Research Summary

Sell-Side Analysts and Corporate Spinoffs

This study investigates the information content and accuracy of analyst reports written about companies that are about to undertake equity spinoffs.  This research is among the first to provide a detailed look at the extent to which analysts evaluate upcoming... View Details
  • Article

The Stock Selection and Performance of Buy-Side Analysts

By: Boris Groysberg, Paul M. Healy, Georgios Serafeim, Devin Shanthikumar and Gui Yang
We examine the selection and performance of stocks recommended by analysts at a large investment firm relative to those of sell-side analysts during the period mid-1997 and 2004. The buy-side firm's analysts issued less optimistic recommendations for stocks with larger... View Details
Keywords: Buy-side Analysts; Sell-side Analysts; Stock Recommendations; Recommendation Optimism; Recommendation Performance; Investment Recommendations; Conflicts Of Interest; Financial Markets; Financial Institutions; Stocks; Financial Services Industry; United States
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Groysberg, Boris, Paul M. Healy, Georgios Serafeim, Devin Shanthikumar, and Gui Yang. "The Stock Selection and Performance of Buy-Side Analysts." Harvard Business School Working Knowledge (March 20, 2012).
  • 2021
  • Article

An Empirical Examination of Sell-Side Brokerage Analysts' Published Research, Concierge Services, and High-Touch Services

By: David A. Maber, Boris Groysberg and Paul M. Healy
This paper uses a proprietary panel dataset to categorize and quantify the activities that sell-side brokerage analysts use to build and sustain their network of buy-side client relations. We then examine the marginal impact of these activities on key analyst outcome... View Details
Keywords: Sell-side Analysts; Analyst Ratings; Brokerage Commissions; Earnings Forecasts
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Maber, David A., Boris Groysberg, and Paul M. Healy. "An Empirical Examination of Sell-Side Brokerage Analysts' Published Research, Concierge Services, and High-Touch Services." European Accounting Review 30, no. 4 (2021): 827–853.
  • March 2015
  • Article

Inside the “Black Box” of Sell-Side Financial Analysts

By: Lawrence D. Brown, Andrew C. Call, Michael B. Clement and Nathan Y. Sharp
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... View Details
Keywords: Knowledge Use and Leverage; Investment; Analysis; Forecasting and Prediction; Stocks; Financial Services Industry
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Brown, Lawrence D., Andrew C. Call, Michael B. Clement, and Nathan Y. Sharp. "Inside the “Black Box” of Sell-Side Financial Analysts." Journal of Accounting Research 53, no. 1 (March 2015): 1–47.
  • September 2011
  • Article

What Drives Sell-Side Analyst Compensation at High-Status Investment Banks?

By: Boris Groysberg, Paul M. Healy and David A. Maber
We use proprietary data from a major investment bank to investigate factors associated with analysts' annual compensation. We find compensation to be positively related to "All-Star" recognition, investment-banking contributions, the size of analysts' portfolios, and... View Details
Keywords: Investment Banking; Research; Compensation and Benefits; Investment Portfolio; Forecasting and Prediction; Resource Allocation; Status and Position; Business Earnings; Quality; Revenue; Stocks; Voting
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Groysberg, Boris, Paul M. Healy, and David A. Maber. "What Drives Sell-Side Analyst Compensation at High-Status Investment Banks?" Journal of Accounting Research 49, no. 4 (September 2011): 969–1000.
  • May 2013
  • Article

The Stock Selection and Performance of Buy-Side Analysts

By: Boris Groysberg, Paul Healy, George Serafeim and Devin Shanthikumar
Prior research on equity analysts focuses almost exclusively on those employed by sell-side investment banks and brokerage houses. Yet investment firms undertake their own buy-side research and their analysts face different stock selection and recommendation incentives... View Details
Keywords: Buy-side Analysts; Sell-side Analysts; Stock Recommendations; Recommendation Optimism; Recommendation Performance; Investment Recommendations; Conflicts Of Interest; Financial Markets; Financial Institutions; Financial Services Industry; United States
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Groysberg, Boris, Paul Healy, George Serafeim, and Devin Shanthikumar. "The Stock Selection and Performance of Buy-Side Analysts." Management Science 59, no. 5 (May 2013): 1062–1075.
  • April–May 2017
  • Article

Career Concerns of Banking Analysts

By: Joanne Horton, George Serafeim and Shan Wu
We study how career concerns influence banking analysts' forecasts and how their forecasting behavior benefits both them and bank managers. We show that banking analysts issue early in the year relatively more optimistic and later in the year more pessimistic forecasts... View Details
Keywords: Sell-side Analysts; Analyst Forecasts; Analysts; Investment Recommendations; Career Advancement; Career Management; Labor Mobility; Labor Market; Prejudice and Bias; Personal Development and Career; Forecasting and Prediction; Investment Banking
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Horton, Joanne, George Serafeim, and Shan Wu. "Career Concerns of Banking Analysts." Journal of Accounting & Economics 63, nos. 2-3 (April–May 2017): 231–252.
  • March 2011
  • Article

Do Sell-Side Stock Analysts Exhibit Escalation of Commitment?

By: John Beshears and Katherine L. Milkman
This paper presents evidence that when an analyst makes an out-of-consensus forecast of a company's quarterly earnings that turns out to be incorrect, she escalates her commitment to maintaining an out-of-consensus view on the company. Relative to an analyst who was... View Details
Keywords: Escalation Of Commitment; Stock Market; Updating; Behavioral Economics; Motivation and Incentives; Behavior; Consumer Behavior; Financial Markets; Forecasting and Prediction
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Beshears, John, and Katherine L. Milkman. "Do Sell-Side Stock Analysts Exhibit Escalation of Commitment?" Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 77, no. 3 (March 2011): 304–317.
  • September 2020
  • Article

Analyst Forecast Bundling

By: Michael Drake, Peter Joos, Joseph Pacelli and Brady Twedt
Changing economic conditions over the past two decades have created incentives for sell-side analysts to both provide their institutional clients tiered services and to streamline their written research process. One manifestation of these changes is an increased... View Details
Keywords: Analysts; Earnings Forecasts; Forecast Accuracy; Forecast Bundling; Business Earnings; Forecasting and Prediction
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Drake, Michael, Peter Joos, Joseph Pacelli, and Brady Twedt. "Analyst Forecast Bundling." Management Science 66, no. 9 (September 2020): 4024–4046.
  • 2025
  • Working Paper

Government-Brokerage Analysts and Market Stabilization: Evidence from China

By: Sheng Cao, Xianjie He, Charles C.Y. Wang and Huifang Yin
We show analysts at government-controlled brokerage firms serve as a market stabilization tool in China. Using earnings forecasts from 2005–2019, we find government-brokerage analysts issue relatively more optimistic—yet less accurate and timely—forecasts during... View Details
Keywords: Sell-side Analysts; Forecast Optimism; Forecast Accuracy; Government Incentives; Market Stabilization; Government Ownership; Coordinated Economies; Stocks; Forecasting and Prediction; Business and Government Relations; Emerging Markets
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Cao, Sheng, Xianjie He, Charles C.Y. Wang, and Huifang Yin. "Government-Brokerage Analysts and Market Stabilization: Evidence from China." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 18-095, March 2018. (Revised March 2025.)
  • August 2010
  • Article

Sell-Side School Ties

By: Lauren H. Cohen, Christopher J. Malloy and Andrea Frazzini
We study the impact of social networks on agents' ability to gather superior information about firms. Exploiting novel data on the educational backgrounds of sell-side equity analysts and senior officers of firms, we test the hypothesis that analysts' school ties to... View Details
Keywords: Investment Return; Investment Portfolio; Corporate Disclosure; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Knowledge Acquisition; Social and Collaborative Networks
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Cohen, Lauren H., Christopher J. Malloy, and Andrea Frazzini. "Sell-Side School Ties." Journal of Finance 65, no. 4 (August 2010): 1409–1437. (Winner of Smith Breeden Prize for the Best Paper Published in the Journal of Finance in Asset Pricing (Distinguished Paper) 2010.)
  • 29 Mar 2018
  • Working Paper Summaries

Government Incentives and Financial Intermediaries: The Case of Chinese Sell-Side Analysts

Keywords: by Sheng Cao, Xianjie He, Charles C.Y. Wang, and Huifang Yin; Financial Services
  • November 2023
  • Article

Brokerage House Initial Public Offerings and Analyst Forecast Quality

By: Mark Bradshaw, Michael Drake, Joseph Pacelli and Brady Twedt
We examine how brokerage firm initial public offerings (IPOs) influence the research quality of sell-side analysts employed by the brokerage. Our main results focus on earnings forecast bias and absolute forecast errors as proxies for research quality. Using a... View Details
Keywords: IPOs; Research Analysts; "Brokerage Industry; Initial Public Offering; Employees; Behavior; Outcome or Result
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Bradshaw, Mark, Michael Drake, Joseph Pacelli, and Brady Twedt. "Brokerage House Initial Public Offerings and Analyst Forecast Quality." Management Science 69, no. 11 (November 2023): 7079–7094.
  • July – August 2008
  • Article

Buy-Side vs. Sell-Side Analysts' Earnings Forecasts

By: Boris Groysberg, Paul M. Healy and Craig James Chapman
We compare the earnings forecast performance of analysts at a large buy-side firm to that of sell-side analysts. Our tests show that the buy-side firm analysts make more optimistic and less accurate forecasts than their counterparts on the sell-side. These performance... View Details
Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Business Earnings; Forecasting and Prediction; Performance Effectiveness
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Groysberg, Boris, Paul M. Healy, and Craig James Chapman. "Buy-Side vs. Sell-Side Analysts' Earnings Forecasts ." Financial Analysts Journal 64, no. 4 (July–August 2008): 25 – 39.
  • 2015
  • Working Paper

Client Service, Compensation, and the Sell-Side Analyst Objective Function: An Empirical Analysis of Relational Incentives in the Investment-Research Industry

By: David A. Maber, Boris Groysberg and Paul M. Healy
This paper investigates how sell-side analysts build and sustain their client networks; the economic gains to successfully managing this challenge; and the metrics through which these incentives are delivered. In a typical semiannual period, the average analyst... View Details
Keywords: Networks; Measurement and Metrics; Operations; Customer Focus and Relationships; Jobs and Positions
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Maber, David A., Boris Groysberg, and Paul M. Healy. "Client Service, Compensation, and the Sell-Side Analyst Objective Function: An Empirical Analysis of Relational Incentives in the Investment-Research Industry." Working Paper, 2015.
  • September 2022
  • Article

Human Versus Machine: A Comparison of Robo-Analyst and Traditional Research Analyst Investment Recommendations

By: Braiden Coleman, Kenneth J. Merkley and Joseph Pacelli
We provide the first comprehensive analysis of the properties of investment recommendations generated by “Robo-Analysts,” which are human analyst-assisted computer programs conducting automated research analysis. Our results indicate that Robo-Analyst recommendations... View Details
Keywords: Fintech; Analysts; Robo-analysts; Investment Recommendations; Investment; Information Technology; Performance
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Coleman, Braiden, Kenneth J. Merkley, and Joseph Pacelli. "Human Versus Machine: A Comparison of Robo-Analyst and Traditional Research Analyst Investment Recommendations." Accounting Review 97, no. 5 (September 2022): 221–244.
  • Article

Managing the Narrative: Investor Relations Officers and Their Interactions with Sell-Side Analysts and Institutional Investors

By: Lawrence D. Brown, Andrew C. Call, Michael B. Clement and Nathan Y. Sharp
Investor relations officers (IROs) play a central role in corporate communications with Wall Street. We survey 610 IROs at U.S. public companies and conduct 14 follow-up interviews to deepen our understanding of the role of IROs in corporate disclosure events. Three... View Details
Keywords: Corporate Disclosure; Power and Influence; Business and Shareholder Relations
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Brown, Lawrence D., Andrew C. Call, Michael B. Clement, and Nathan Y. Sharp. "Managing the Narrative: Investor Relations Officers and Their Interactions with Sell-Side Analysts and Institutional Investors." Journal of Accounting & Economics 67, no. 1 (February 2019): 58–79.
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