Today's Analyst Stock Ratings | Upgrades, Downgrades

SPY777.99−0.07%QQQ746.17−0.68%BTC/USD82,642.10−1.24%DIA518.26+0.42%GLD382.07−0.65%TLT77.96−0.03%

							Get Alert
Oct 2, 2026	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	36.49%	Matt CurtisDA Davidson 27%	15 17	Previous Buy Current Buy	Get Alert
Aug 7, 2026	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	81.98%	Gregory FrancfortGuggenheim 59%	20 21	Previous Buy Current Buy	Get Alert
Aug 5, 2026	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	81.98%	Jon TowerCitigroup 66%	20 21	Previous Buy Current Buy	Get Alert
Jul 1, 2026	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	54.69%	Lynne CollierFreedom Capital Markets 61%	17	Previous Initiates Current Buy	Get Alert
Jun 3, 2026	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	54.69%	Andrew M. CharlesTD Cowen 33%	17 17	Previous Buy Current Buy	Get Alert
May 6, 2026	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	91.08%	Jim SaleraStephens & Co. 36%	21 21	Previous Overweight Current Overweight	Get Alert
May 5, 2026	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	54.69%	Andrew M. CharlesTD Cowen 33%	17 18	Previous Buy Current Buy	Get Alert
Apr 28, 2026	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	54.69%	Matt CurtisDA Davidson 27%	17 17	Previous Buy Current Buy	Get Alert
Apr 20, 2026	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	100.18%	Todd M. BrooksBenchmark 43%	22 24	Previous Buy Current Buy	Get Alert
Mar 6, 2026	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	—	Matt CurtisDA Davidson 27%	—	Previous Initiates Current Buy	Get Alert
Feb 25, 2026	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	91.08%	Jon TowerCitigroup 66%	21 26	Previous Buy Current Buy	Get Alert
Feb 25, 2026	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	54.69%	Jeffrey BernsteinBarclays 60%	17 19	Previous Overweight Current Overweight	Get Alert
Feb 25, 2026	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	91.08%	Gregory FrancfortGuggenheim 59%	21 23	Previous Buy Current Buy	Get Alert
Feb 25, 2026	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	91.08%	Jim SaleraStephens & Co. 36%	21 24	Previous Overweight Current Overweight	Get Alert
Feb 24, 2026	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	63.79%	Andrew M. CharlesTD Cowen 33%	18 21	Previous Buy Current Buy	Get Alert
Jan 7, 2026	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	72.88%	Jeffrey BernsteinBarclays 60%	19 21	Previous Overweight Current Overweight	Get Alert
Aug 6, 2025	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	118.38%	Jim SaleraStephens & Co. 36%	23 24	Previous Overweight Current Overweight	Get Alert
Aug 6, 2025	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	118.38%	Todd BrooksBenchmark 46%	22 24	Previous Buy Current Buy	Get Alert
Jul 29, 2025	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	91.08%	Andrew CharlesTD Cowen 61%	19 21	Previous Buy Current Buy	Get Alert
Jul 18, 2025	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	91.08%	Sara SenatoreB of A Securities 52%	21 23	Previous Buy Current Buy	Get Alert
Jul 17, 2025	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	100.18%	Brian VaccaroRaymond James 76%	21 22	Previous Strong Buy Current Strong Buy	Get Alert
Jul 17, 2025	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	91.08%	Dan LevyBarclays 49%	20 21	Previous Overweight Current Overweight	Get Alert
Jun 4, 2025	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	72.88%	Andrew CharlesTD Securities 61%	19 19	Previous Buy Current Buy	Get Alert
May 8, 2025	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	100.18%	Gregory FrancfortGuggenheim 59%	22 23	Previous Buy Current Buy	Get Alert
May 7, 2025	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	100.18%	Todd BrooksBenchmark 46%	22 26	Previous Buy Current Buy	Get Alert
May 7, 2025	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	91.08%	Brian VaccaroRaymond James 76%	21 25	Previous Strong Buy Current Strong Buy	Get Alert
May 7, 2025	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	81.98%	Brian MullanPiper Sandler 69%	20 23	Previous Overweight Current Overweight	Get Alert
May 7, 2025	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	109.28%	Jim SaleraStephens & Co. 36%	23 24	Previous Overweight Current Overweight	Get Alert
May 7, 2025	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	72.88%	Andrew CharlesTD Securities 61%	19 22	Previous Buy Current Buy	Get Alert
May 6, 2025	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	81.98%	Dan LevyBarclays 49%	20 24	Previous Overweight Current Overweight	Get Alert
Apr 24, 2025	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	118.38%	Jim SaleraStephens & Co. 36%	24 24	Previous Overweight Current Overweight	Get Alert
Apr 22, 2025	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	118.38%	Dan LevyBarclays 49%	21 24	Previous Overweight Current Overweight	Get Alert
Apr 1, 2025	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	100.18%	Andrew CharlesTD Securities 61%	21 22	Previous Hold Current Buy	Get Alert
Mar 20, 2025	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	118.38%	Jim SaleraStephens & Co. 36%	24 24	Previous Overweight Current Overweight	Get Alert
Mar 12, 2025	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	91.08%	Dan LevyBarclays 49%	21 24	Previous Overweight Current Overweight	Get Alert
Mar 12, 2025	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	118.38%	Jim SaleraStephens & Co. 36%	24 25	Previous Overweight Current Overweight	Get Alert
Mar 12, 2025	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	154.78%	Sara SenatoreB of A Securities 52%	27 28	Previous Buy Current Buy	Get Alert
Mar 12, 2025	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	91.08%	Andrew CharlesTD Securities 61%	21 21	Previous Hold Current Hold	Get Alert
Mar 11, 2025	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	127.48%	Jim SaleraStephens & Co. 36%	25 25	Previous Overweight Current Overweight	Get Alert
Jan 28, 2025	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	127.48%	Jim SaleraStephens & Co. 36%	25 25	Previous Overweight Current Overweight	Get Alert
Nov 13, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	127.48%	Jim SaleraStephens & Co. 36%	25 25	Previous Overweight Current Overweight	Get Alert
Nov 11, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	118.38%	Jeffrey BernsteinBarclays 60%	22 24	Previous Overweight Current Overweight	Get Alert
Nov 11, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	109.28%	Nicole Miller ReganPiper Sandler 72%	22 23	Previous Overweight Current Overweight	Get Alert
Nov 8, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	91.08%	Andrew CharlesTD Cowen 61%	18 21	Previous Hold Current Hold	Get Alert
Nov 8, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	100.18%	Jeffrey BernsteinBarclays 60%	18 22	Previous Overweight Current Overweight	Get Alert
Nov 8, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	127.48%	Brian VaccaroRaymond James 76%	22 25	Previous Strong Buy Current Strong Buy	Get Alert
Nov 8, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	127.48%	Jim SaleraStephens & Co. 36%	20 25	Previous Overweight Current Overweight	Get Alert
Oct 22, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	63.79%	Jeffrey BernsteinBarclays 60%	18 21	Previous Overweight Current Overweight	Get Alert
Oct 17, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	81.98%	Jim SaleraStephens & Co. 36%	20	Previous Initiates Current Overweight	Get Alert
Oct 16, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	109.28%	Todd BrooksBenchmark 46%	23 23	Previous Buy Current Buy	Get Alert
Oct 4, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	81.98%	Gregory FrancfortGuggenheim 59%	20 24	Previous Buy Current Buy	Get Alert
Sep 12, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	63.79%	Andrew CharlesTD Cowen 61%	18 18	Previous Hold Current Hold	Get Alert
Aug 27, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	109.28%	Todd BrooksBenchmark 46%	23	Previous Initiates Current Buy	Get Alert
Aug 7, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	91.08%	Jeffrey BernsteinBarclays 60%	21 27	Previous Overweight Current Overweight	Get Alert
Aug 7, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	63.79%	Andrew CharlesTD Cowen 61%	18 18	Previous Hold Current Hold	Get Alert
Jul 17, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	118.38%	Sara SenatoreB of A Securities 52%	24 29	Previous Buy Current Buy	Get Alert
Jul 17, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	63.79%	Andrew CharlesTD Cowen 61%	18 21	Previous Hold Current Hold	Get Alert
Jul 2, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	63.79%	Chris O'CullStifel 65%	18 22	Previous Hold Current Hold	Get Alert
Jun 13, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	91.08%	Andrew CharlesTD Cowen 61%	21 25	Previous Hold Current Hold	Get Alert
May 8, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	127.48%	Andrew CharlesTD Cowen 61%	25 26	Previous Hold Current Hold	Get Alert
May 8, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	145.68%	Jeffrey BernsteinBarclays 60%	27 29	Previous Overweight Current Overweight	Get Alert
Apr 12, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	136.58%	Andrew CharlesTD Cowen 61%	26 26	Previous Hold Current Hold	Get Alert
Apr 11, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	136.58%	Andrew CharlesTD Cowen 61%	26 26	Previous Hold Current Hold	Get Alert
Apr 10, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	136.58%	Andrew CharlesTD Cowen 61%	26 26	Previous Hold Current Hold	Get Alert
Mar 6, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	100.18%	Chris O'CullStifel 65%	20 22	Previous Hold Current Hold	Get Alert
Mar 6, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	191.17%	Jon TowerCitigroup 66%	24 32	Previous Buy Current Buy	Get Alert
Mar 6, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	163.88%	Jeffrey BernsteinBarclays 60%	23 29	Previous Overweight Current Overweight	Get Alert
Mar 5, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	136.58%	Andrew CharlesTD Cowen 61%	21 26	Previous Market Perform Current Market Perform	Get Alert
Jan 25, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	127.48%	Brian VaccaroRaymond James 76%	23 25	Previous Strong Buy Current Strong Buy	Get Alert
Jan 4, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	81.98%	Chris O'CullStifel 65%	20 22	Previous Buy Current Hold	Get Alert
Jan 3, 2024	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	109.28%	Jeffrey BernsteinBarclays 60%	20 23	Previous Overweight Current Overweight	Get Alert
Nov 2, 2023	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	109.28%	Brian VaccaroRaymond James 76%	22 23	Previous Strong Buy Current Strong Buy	Get Alert
Oct 23, 2023	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	81.98%	Jeffrey BernsteinBarclays 60%	20 23	Previous Overweight Current Overweight	Get Alert
Oct 18, 2023	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	100.18%	Brian VaccaroRaymond James 76%	22 24	Previous Outperform Current Strong Buy	Get Alert
Aug 2, 2023	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	118.38%	Brian VaccaroRaymond James 76%	22 24	Previous Outperform Current Outperform	Get Alert
Aug 2, 2023	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	109.28%	Jeffrey BernsteinBarclays 60%	21 23	Previous Overweight Current Overweight	Get Alert
Aug 1, 2023	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	81.98%	Andrew CharlesTD Cowen 61%	19 20	Previous Current Market Perform	Get Alert
Jul 27, 2023	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	118.38%	Jon TowerCitigroup 66%	22 24	Previous Buy Current Buy	Get Alert
Jul 18, 2023	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	100.18%	Nicole Miller ReganPiper Sandler 72%	22	Previous Initiates Current Overweight	Get Alert
Jun 15, 2023	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	72.88%	Andrew CharlesTD Cowen 61%	19	Previous Market Perform Current Market Perform	Get Alert
Jun 9, 2023	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	72.88%	Andrew CharlesTD Cowen 61%	19	Previous Market Perform Current Market Perform	Get Alert
May 31, 2023	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	72.88%	Andrew CharlesTD Cowen 61%	18 19	Previous Market Perform Current Market Perform	Get Alert
May 3, 2023	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	100.18%	Jon TowerCitigroup 66%	20 22	Previous Current Buy	Get Alert
May 3, 2023	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	91.08%	Jeffrey BernsteinBarclays 60%	19 21	Previous Current Overweight	Get Alert
May 3, 2023	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	63.79%	Andrew CharlesTD Cowen 61%	17 18	Previous Current Market Perform	Get Alert
Mar 8, 2023	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	81.98%	Jon TowerCitigroup 66%	20 21	Previous Current Buy	Get Alert
Mar 8, 2023	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	100.18%	Brian VaccaroRaymond James 76%	22 23	Previous Current Outperform	Get Alert
Mar 8, 2023	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	54.69%	Andrew CharlesTD Cowen 61%	17	Previous Current Market Perform	Get Alert
Jan 26, 2023	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	72.88%	Jeffrey BernsteinBarclays 60%	17 19	Previous Current Overweight	Get Alert
Jan 24, 2023	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	109.28%	Brian VaccaroRaymond James 76%	23 24	Previous Current Outperform	Get Alert
Jan 5, 2023	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	54.69%	Jeffrey BernsteinBarclays 60%	17 20	Previous Current Overweight	Get Alert
Nov 8, 2022	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	81.98%	Jeffrey BernsteinBarclays 60%	19 20	Previous Current Overweight	Get Alert
Nov 8, 2022	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	81.98%	Jon TowerCitigroup 66%	20 22	Previous Current Buy	Get Alert
Nov 7, 2022	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	54.69%	Andrew CharlesCowen & Co. 61%	17 18.5	Previous Current Market Perform	Get Alert
Nov 1, 2022	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	100.18%	Jon TowerCitigroup 66%	22 23	Previous Current Buy	Get Alert
Aug 10, 2022	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	91.08%	Jared GarberGoldman Sachs 45%	19 21	Previous Current Buy	Get Alert
Aug 10, 2022	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	68.33%	Andrew CharlesCowen & Co. 61%	15 18.5	Previous Current Market Perform	Get Alert
Jun 9, 2022	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	72.88%	Jeffrey BernsteinBarclays 60%	16 19	Previous Current Overweight	Get Alert
Apr 25, 2022	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	45.59%	Jeffrey BernsteinBarclays 60%	16 18	Previous Current Overweight	Get Alert
Mar 24, 2022	FWRGFirst Watch Restaurant Gr	$10.99	100.18%	Jared GarberGoldman Sachs 45%	22 25	Previous Current Buy	Get Alert

Recent Analyst Stock Rating News

PRO

Wells Fargo Maintains Overweight on Globe Life, Raises Price Target to $191

Wells Fargo analyst Wesley Carmichael maintains Globe Life (NYSE:GL) with a Overweight and raises the price target from $190 to $191.

PRO

TD Cowen Maintains Buy on AerCap Holdings, Raises Price Target to $185

TD Cowen analyst Moshe Orenbuch maintains AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) with a Buy and raises the price target from $180 to $185.

PRO

Wells Fargo Maintains Overweight on Equitable Holdings, Raises Price Target to $65

Wells Fargo analyst Wesley Carmichael maintains Equitable Holdings (NYSE:EQH) with a Overweight and raises the price target from $64 to $65.

PRO

Wells Fargo Maintains Overweight on Corebridge Financial, Raises Price Target to $40

Wells Fargo analyst Wesley Carmichael maintains Corebridge Financial (NYSE:CRBG) with a Overweight and raises the price target from $39 to $40.

PRO

Wells Fargo Maintains Equal-Weight on Aflac, Lowers Price Target to $116

Wells Fargo analyst Wesley Carmichael maintains Aflac (NYSE:AFL) with a Equal-Weight and lowers the price target from $122 to $116.

PRO

TD Cowen Initiates Coverage On TeraWulf with Buy Rating, Announces Price Target of $21

TD Cowen analyst Michael Elias initiates coverage on TeraWulf (NASDAQ:WULF) with a Buy rating and announces Price Target of $21.

PRO

TD Cowen Initiates Coverage On Brown & Brown with Buy Rating, Announces Price Target of $82

TD Cowen analyst Andrew Kligerman initiates coverage on Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) with a Buy rating and announces Price Target of $82.

PRO

Piper Sandler Maintains Neutral on Americold Realty Trust, Lowers Price Target to $15

Piper Sandler analyst Alexander Goldfarb maintains Americold Realty Trust (NYSE:COLD) with a Neutral and lowers the price target from $17 to $15.

PRO

Piper Sandler Maintains Neutral on Community Healthcare, Lowers Price Target to $14

Piper Sandler analyst Alexander Goldfarb maintains Community Healthcare (NYSE:CHCT) with a Neutral and lowers the price target from $17 to $14.

PRO

Piper Sandler Maintains Overweight on BXP, Lowers Price Target to $72

Piper Sandler analyst Alexander Goldfarb maintains BXP (NYSE:BXP) with a Overweight and lowers the price target from $88 to $72.

The Best Trading Research Platform

For Retail Investors and Professional Trades Alike.

Get Started for Free

What Are Analyst Stock Ratings?

Analyst ratings measure the expected performance of a stock during a given time period. Analysts and brokerage firms often use ratings when they issue stock recommendations to stock traders.

Analysts arrive at stock ratings after they research companies’ public financial statements, communicate with executives and customers and interact with companies in other ways.

Most analysts issue ratings 4 times a year, usually at 3-month intervals.

How to Use Analyst Ratings

As an investor or trader, you want to be able to use analyst ratings effectively. Here are steps you can take to understand how to synthesize all the information analysts report about a particular company and how to apply it to your own trades.

Step 1: Check Ratings History

In the short term, look to see whether analysts suggest an initiation, upgrade or downgrade for a particular stock. Understand how the rating changed compared to the previous rating and whether a price target gets announced or changed.

Sometimes the rating stays the same and only the price target changes, which could cause the stock to move in either direction, depending on the significance of the change between the 2 price targets.

Step 2: Check for Other News

In the short term, check to see how the stock reacts to positive or negative news. This will be an indication of the company’s outlook because analyst ratings usually come out after the company announces news (it’ll typically be earnings news).

Step 3: Look at the Sector for News

Check to see if other stocks in the sector also received similar ratings. This could indicate micro news, which refers to when the whole sector or specific company trades in a specific way due to news outside of one company.

Step 4: Look at the Note

If available, look over the analyst note itself. The beginning of the note has the main information of the rating and price target. Investors should also take a look at the summary of the note, which you can find in the first couple pages and give you a concrete overview of the company. This can help you get an understanding of how analysts arrived at their thesis on the stock.

An example of an analyst note. Source: Needham

Step 5: Make a Decision

After reviewing the analyst ratings (and whether the analyst proposes a change or initiation) and find the reason for that note. Make a decision based on the analyst thesis on the company. This should give you guidance on how to make your thesis. Analyst ratings are a good indication of what professionals believe the company or sector will do, helping you get a better understanding of the companies you’re interested in.

Analyst Rating Accuracy

Analyst ratings are not set in stone and nobody knows indefinitely what a stock will do. Therefore, analyst ratings should be taken as an educated guess made by professionals who carefully study the specific company and sector in question. It's not a surprise that the accuracy of each rating can vary by each individual analyst and specific ratings on companies.

In other words, there’s no hard number or percentage on how accurate analyst ratings are because they are like educated guesses on what they think the stock will do based on their research, within that particular sector. In addition, each firm has so many analysts and so many different companies to review that you can compare ratings to glean what you believe is the truth.

Where Analyst Ratings Come From

Analyst ratings come from stock analysts. Analysts “go deep” on companies within a particular industry or sector. Some analysts employ a top-down approach (they start with an industry or sector and look for excellent companies within that industry or sector) and other stock analysts choose a bottom-up approach, which means they start with the company first and connect the dots within that company’s sector or industry. Analysts evaluate:

Financial statements
Economic fundamentals
Suppliers, customers and competitors
Management quality
Business model
Revenue
Expenses
Assets
Liabilities

While these evaluations are done using facts and figures that any investor can access, they come down to a conclusion the analyst must draw. While this isn’t an unqualified opinion, analysts will disagree because their interpretations of the data could vary.

Types of Stock Ratings

Stock ratings can range from simple “buy” and “sell” ratings to “equal weight” and “outperform” ratings. Here’s a quick overview of how analysts rate stocks.

Buy Rating

A “buy” rating indicates that an analyst is optimistic about a stock’s short-term or mid-term growth and recommends that traders purchase the stock. An analyst may even go so far as to indicate that a stock is a “strong buy.” At the same time, you may choose to swing trade the asset for a profit and come back later to start the process all over again.

Sell Rating

A “sell” rating means that an analyst believes the stock will trend downward in a particular time frame. Analysts might even refer to a security as a “strong sell.” Remember, though, you may want to swing trade and come back to this asset in the future even though you just chose to sell, just as you would under a “buy” rating.

Hold

A “hold” rating suggests that investors should not buy more of or sell the specified stock because they believe the stock should perform in a way that’s consistent with the market or will perform similarly to comparable companies within that particular sector. This is akin to the value investing approach that Warren Buffett uses, looking to gain long-term value from a single stock rather than flipping it because of a bad week. As many have said, it’s not a loss until you sell.

Underperform

An “underperform” rating means an analyst indicates that a stock is expected to perform below the market or sector average. And yes, while the underperform rating may not bode well for an asset in the next few weeks, it may not stay that way. Continue to carefully monitor your portfolio to ensure that an underperforming asset hasn’t turned itself around. As companies are faced with the Herculean task of pleasing shareholders, they will push to fix their underperforming stocks, meaning that a stock you wrote off could rise again.

Outperform

An “outperform” rating means that an analyst expects a stock to outperform the market or sector average. While the stock may look to outperform the market or a sector’s average, that doesn’t mean it will continue to soar forever. You must look at an outperform rating as what that asset will do in recent times, but it may not maintain that trajectory.

Equal-Weight

An equal weight rating means that an analyst believes that an individual stock's performance will tie to the average of all the stocks that an analyst covers in that particular sector. This type of rating helps investors get a true comparison of stocks to each other within a particular sector or industry. At the same time, equal-weight ratings could change at any time.

Price Target

A price target is an analyst’s projection of a stock’s future price. A price target is generally set up in a general trade or area where the asset might land. This means that the analyst could get close without hitting the figure on the head. Even so, the analyst wants to get close and better predict the movement of the marketplace and the asset.

Understanding Stock Ratings

Stock ratings are assessments of the investment potential of a particular stock. They are typically created by financial analysts who evaluate a company's financial performance, competitive positioning, and market outlook to provide guidance on the stock's expected future performance.

Ratings typically range from "buy" to "sell," with variations in between, such as "hold," "accumulate," or "neutral." A "buy" rating suggests that the stock is likely to perform well in the future, and investors should consider purchasing it. Conversely, a "sell" rating indicates that the stock is expected to underperform, and investors should consider selling it.

It's important to note that ratings are not guarantees of performance and should not be relied upon solely when making investment decisions. Ratings are just one factor to consider when evaluating a stock's potential, and investors should also conduct their own research and analysis to make informed decisions.

Another thing to keep in mind is that different analysts may have different opinions on a stock, so it's a good idea to consider multiple ratings before making an investment decision.

In addition to analyst ratings, investors can also consider other factors when evaluating a stock, such as its financial statements, management team, industry trends, and overall market conditions. By combining all of these factors, investors can make informed decisions about which stocks to buy or sell.

In summary, stock ratings are an important tool for investors to consider when evaluating a stock's potential, but they should not be the only factor used in investment decision-making. It's important to conduct your own research, consider multiple ratings, and take into account other factors before making an investment decision.

Should You Use Analyst Ratings to Inform Your Own Trades?

You can definitely use analyst ratings to inform your own trades and inform your own thesis but it’s a good idea to do your own research. However, analyst ratings are just one step in what should be a much larger investment strategy. Don’t fall in love with just one analyst. Compare notes. Look into how these ratings match with activity on the market and current events. Plus, remember that an analyst rating could easily be incorrect. No one is perfect, but these ratings are a good place to start.

Visit Benzinga News for more guidance on how to research companies and make decisions about research, trading and investing.

Compare Online Stock Brokers

Claim Exclusive Offers

Interactive Brokers Review
Good Fit For:
Active and Global Traders
VIEW PROS & CONS:
Securely through Interactive Brokers’ website
Plus500 Review
Good Fit For:
Leveraged Trading
VIEW PROS & CONS:
securely through Plus500 Yield's website
public.com Review
Good Fit For:
Trading Ideas
VIEW PROS & CONS:
securely through public.com's website
Robinhood Review
Good Fit For:
Commission-Free Mobile Trading
VIEW PROS & CONS:
securely through Robinhood's website
TradeZero Review
Good Fit For:
Active Short Sellers
VIEW PROS & CONS:
securely through TradeZero [SPONSORED]'s website