Discussion of analysts’ treatment of non-recurring items in street earnings and loss function assumptions in rational expectations tests on financial analysts’ earnings forecasts

Abstract

This article discusses papers by Gu and Chen, “Analysts’ Treatment of Non-recurring Items In Street Earnings” and by Basu and Markov, “Loss Function Assumptions in Rational Expectations Tests on Financial Analysts’ Earnings Forecasts.” These two papers address issues associated with the rationality or expertise of analysts, and both papers interpret their evidence as supporting the hypothesis that analysts do a good job of processing information and forecasting earnings, results that contrast with a growing literature that is critical of the incentives and abilities of analysts. My article critiques their methods and conclusions, and suggests areas for future research.