Analyst Teams

67 Pages Posted: 14 Jun 2018 Last revised: 8 Mar 2020

See all articles by Bingxu Fang

Bingxu Fang

Singapore Management University - School of Accountancy

Ole-Kristian Hope

University of Toronto - Rotman School of Management

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: March 5, 2020

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of teamwork on sell-side analysts’ performance. Using a hand-collected sample of over 50,000 analyst research reports, we find that analyst teams issue more than 70% of annual earnings forecasts. In contrast, most prior research implicitly assumes that forecasts are issued by individual analysts. We document that analyst teams generate more accurate earnings forecasts than individual analysts and that the stock market reacts more strongly to forecast revisions issued by teams. Analyst teams also cover more firms, issue earnings forecasts more frequently, and issue less stale forecasts. Analysts working in teams are more likely to be voted as All-Star analysts in the future. Among analyst teams, we show that team size and team member ability are significantly associated with forecast accuracy. Moreover, using detailed analyst background information from LinkedIn, we find that forecast accuracy is positively associated with team diversity based on sell-side experience, educational background, and gender. Additional analyses suggest that analyst teams, especially more diversified ones, are more likely to issue cash-flow forecasts and use discounted cash-flow valuation models in their reports. These findings suggest that teamwork and team diversity play a crucial role in understanding sell-side analysts’ performance.

Keywords: Teamwork; Analysts; Earnings Forecasts; Diversity; Market Reactions to Analyst Revisions; All-Star Analysts; Cash-Flow Forecasts; DCF Models; LinkedIn; Sell-Side; Education; Gender

JEL Classification: D83, G11, G24, J24, M14, M41

Suggested Citation

Fang, Bingxu and Hope, Ole-Kristian, Analyst Teams (March 5, 2020). Rotman School of Management Working Paper No. 3187324, AAA 2019 Management Accounting Section (MAS) Meeting, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3187324 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3187324

Bingxu Fang

Singapore Management University - School of Accountancy ( email )

60 Stamford Road
Singapore 178900
Singapore

Ole-Kristian Hope (Contact Author)

University of Toronto - Rotman School of Management ( email )

105 St. George Street
Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E6 M5S1S4
Canada

HOME PAGE: http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/FacultyAndResearch/Faculty/FacultyBios/Hope.aspx

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