← Search

Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis Vol. 41 No. 1 2006

How Do Analyst Recommendations Respond to Major News?

Jennifer Conrad1; Bradford Cornell2,3; Wayne R. Landsman1; Brian Rountree4

1 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · 2 California Institute of Technology · 3 Cornell University · 4 Rice University

open access

Abstract

We examine how analysts respond to public information when setting stock recommendations. We model the determinants of analysts' recommendation changes following large stock price movements. We find evidence of an asymmetry following large positive and negative returns. Following large stock price increases, analysts are equally likely to upgrade or downgrade. Following large stock price declines, analysts are more likely to downgrade. This asymmetry exists after accounting for investment banking relationships and herding behavior. This result suggests recommendation changes are “sticky” in one direction, with analysts reluctant to downgrade. Moreover, this result implies that analysts' optimistic bias may vary through time.

DOI
10.1017/s0022109000002416
Volume
41
Issue
1
Pages
25-49
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

Cite