In the industry there are analysts who specifically focus on researching publicly listed companies - they review their public financial statements, talk to their executives and customers as well as listen in on the companies’ earning results calls with investors. Once they have established a good understanding of the company, they give it a rating (buy, sell, hold) to reflect how they think the company will perform in future.
Most analysts review their ratings four times a year, at intervals of three months after the company’s quarterly results. In the app you can see when the last change in the rating of a particular stock was made by the analysts, as well as the number of analysts on whom the rating is based.
What do the analyst ratings mean?
Strong buy - The top 5% of stocks get this coveted rating. A Strong Buy should outperform the market more than any other rank.
Buy - The next 15% of stocks are rated as “Buy”. These stocks should also outperform the market.
Hold - Most stocks (60%) fall into this category. These stocks should perform in-line with the market.
Sell - Stocks with this rating (15%) will most likely underperform compared to the market.
Strong sell - The bottom 5% of all stocks get this rating. These stocks should perform dramatically worse than the market.
Where do Shares get the analyst ratings from?
We use Zacks Investment Research Inc. who are an established investment research firm that focuses on stock research, analysis and recommendations.
Where can I see the analyst ratings in the app?
You are able to see Analyst ratings for each of the stocks that are available for trading - simply tap on the stock to open its instrument details page, scroll down and you will see it under Key Stats.
On the Explore screen you can also find a section Analyst rating changes - here you can find 8 latest upgrades and downgrades in ratings in our app.