Analyst

The Analyst view collects what the sell-side thinks about a stock, in one place: consensus estimates, price targets, the latest rating changes, and how the trend is moving.

Consensus, targets, revisions, and each firm's track record.

What's here

• Consensus estimates — where the street expects revenue and earnings to land.
• Price targets — the average target and the spread between the bulls and the bears.
• Revision trends — whether estimates are being raised or cut. The direction of revisions often matters more than the level, because a stream of upgrades to numbers tends to precede a stream of upgrades to ratings.
• Upgrades and downgrades — the recent ratings moves, so you can see who's changing their mind and when.

Firm accuracy

Not every call carries the same weight. The view tracks each firm's accuracy against its peers, so a target or rating change comes with a sense of how well that shop has called the name before. An upgrade from a firm with a strong record on the stock is worth more than the same upgrade from one that's been consistently wrong.

TIP

Watch the revision trend more closely than any single target. A cluster of estimate raises across several firms, especially the accurate ones, is an early signal that sentiment is turning before the price fully reflects it.

How to use it

Use Analyst as context, not a trigger. A high price target doesn't make a stock a buy, and a downgrade isn't always a sell. What's useful is the direction and the source: estimates moving up from firms that have been right, or a respected shop breaking from the herd. Those are the moments worth a second look.

Related: Earnings Analysis.