Publications

March 1995 (Revised December 1995)
Case

Dividend Policy at FPL Group, Inc. (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Craig F Schreiber

A Wall Street analyst has just learned that FPL (the holding company for Florida's largest electric utility) may cut its dividend in several days despite a 47-year streak of consecutive dividend increases. In response to the deregulation of the electric utility... View Details

Keywords: Investment Return; Corporate Strategy; Policy; Competitive Strategy; Financial Strategy; Fluctuation; Energy Sources; Emerging Markets; Utilities Industry; Energy Industry; Florida

October 2010 (Revised July 2012)
Supplement

Toni Sacconaghi at Sanford C. Bernstein

By: Linda A. Hill and Dana Teppert

Toni Sacconaghi, a senior sell-side equity research analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein covering U.S. IT hardware companies, thinks about the challenges and opportunities presented by the firm's new office in Hong Kong. Sacconaghi was previously the only analyst covering... View Details

Keywords: Employees; Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Research; Social and Collaborative Networks; Financial Services Industry; Hong Kong; United States

February 1992 (Revised October 1996)
Case

CUC International, Inc. (A)

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Paul M. Healy

The case series examines the role of financial reporting and corporate finance policies as vehicles for communication between managers and outside investors. This case describes management's concern that the company's stock is undervalued because analysts viewed the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Stocks; Financial Management; Decisions; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Management Style; Management Practices and Processes; Business and Shareholder Relations; Value; Financial Services Industry

Research Summary

Mark Bradshaw examines how sell-side financial analysts incorporate accounting information in their earnings forecasts, common stock valuations, and investment recommendations. In addition, he analyzes management reporting of modified GAAP earnings figures to... View Details

Charlotte L. Robertson

Charlotte Robertson is an Assistant Professor in the Business, Government, and the International Economy Unit at Harvard Business School. She teaches BGIE in the MBA required curriculum.

Professor Robertson conducts research on the history of financial... View Details

Dominic Russel

Dominic Russel is a doctoral student in the Business Economics program. His current research interests are in financial economics, public economics, and the economics of social networks. He has previously worked as a financial analyst at the Consumer Financial... View Details

Elisabeth Kempf

Elisabeth Kempf is an Associate Professor in the Finance Unit, teaching Finance 1 to MBA students. She is also a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and a Research Affiliate at the Centre for Economic Policy and Research... View Details

February 2024 (Revised February 2024)
Case

CLSA: Integrating ESG in Stock Valuation

By: Shirley Lu, Aaron Yoon and Billy Chan

In 2023, a senior financial analyst at the Hong Kong-based stock brokerage firm CLSA was surprised to see that, based on his calculations, the financial impact from climate risks on a major Indian cement manufacturing company’s projected earnings could be massive.... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Corporate Governance; Analysis; Stocks; Valuation; Environmental Sustainability; Financial Services Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Hong Kong; China; India; Asia

13 May 2008
First Look

First Look: May 13, 2008

levels of thinking. Purchase this book: http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/ b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=2115&referral=2342 Do Buy-Side Analysts Earnings Forecasts Out-Perform Those of the Sell-Side? Authors:Boris... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2005 (Revised March 2005)
Case

WorldCom, Inc.: Two Views

By: David F. Hawkins

Financial analysis is one way to detect WorldCom's fraudulent accounting. This case presents two perspectives of WorldCom: the company as viewed by security analysts and the inside view of the accounting fraud. Also looks at the company's acquisition accounting to... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Risk Management; Crime and Corruption; Accounting

June 2024
Case

Arete Research on Unity Software

By: Joseph Pacelli and Tonia Labruyere

Richard Kramer had founded Arete Research, an independent financial research provider, in 2000 after a successful career as a sell-side analyst at Goldman Sachs. He reflects on his team's coverage of Unity Software, a U.S.-based mobile games software company, that... View Details

Keywords: Analysis; Initial Public Offering; Analytics and Data Science; Applications and Software; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Valuation; Value Creation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Model; Reports; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; United Kingdom; United States

April 2018 (Revised March 2019)
Case

Tesla-SolarCity

By: E. Scott Mayfield and Emil N. Siriwardane

On June 21, 2016, Tesla Motors, Inc. announced its offer to acquire SolarCity, bringing CEO Elon Musk one step closer to completing his goal of moving the world from a hydrocarbon-based economy to a solar-electric one. Markets and analysts were mixed in their reaction... View Details

Keywords: Tesla; SolarCity; Solar Power; Mergers and Acquisitions; Renewable Energy; Goals and Objectives; Finance

September 2022 (Revised January 2023)
Case

Bear to Bull: An Analyst’s Journey with Netflix

By: Aiyesha Dey, Joseph Pacelli, Jennifer G. Lawson and Tom Quinn

Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter said “hell freezing over” was more likely than him upgrading the “sell” rating he had maintained on movie and television streaming giant Netflix since 2011, despite meteoric subscriber and share price growth. In 2022, however,... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Asset Pricing; Cash Flow; Investment; Stocks; Equity; Analysis; Attitudes; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

16 Oct 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Core Earnings? New Data and Evidence

Keywords: by Ethan Rouen, Eric So, and Charles C.Y. Wang

24 May 2014
News

Analysts’ dim view of CSR brightens over time

October 2010 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Global Expansion at Sanford C. Bernstein

By: Linda A. Hill and Dana Teppert

Sanford C. Bernstein, a premier sell-side research firm, is expanding globally and has recently opened an office in Hong Kong. Global Director of Research Robert van Brugge must consider how best to organize the firm's research department to enhance cross-sector and... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Talent and Talent Management; Globalized Firms and Management; Knowledge Sharing; Leading Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Research; Financial Services Industry; Hong Kong

18 Dec 2018
News

José Mourinho thought he could buy success – now he’s paid the price

December 2018
Case

Bata versus Relaxo—Analyzing Performance

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Iris Leung and Quinn Pitcher

Set in 2016, “Bata India versus Relaxo—Analyzing Performance” compares the strategies and financial performance of two Indian footwear companies. Bata India had long been the market leader in footwear in India, but its leading market position was being challenged by... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Strategy; Operations; Performance Evaluation; Financial Statements; Analysis; Apparel and Accessories Industry