Analyst roles: Stabilizing mood or swimming?

In this paper, we first use a simple mathematic model to infer the role of buy-side analysts in correcting the optimistic stock recommendation and earning forecast of sell-side analysts, and then investigating the relationship between investor sentiment and optimistic stock recommendation and earning forecast in those two types of analysts. The results show that, when the market sentiment is higher, the stock recommendation and earning forecast are more optimistic for sell-side analysts, whereas the stock recommendation and earning forecast are more conservative for buy-side analysts. Further evidence confirm that the relationship between in market sentiment and stock recommendation and earning forecast are significantly different between buy-side analysts and sell-side analysts. Our findings have import implications for stock market development in China.