Purpose: Most publicly traded companies are analyzed by numerous analysts. These analysts often don't agree about a company's future prospects. In this exercise you will find analysts' ratings about companies and make comparisons over time and across companies in the same industry. You will also see to what extent the analysts experienced "earnings surprises." Earnings surprises can cause changes in stock prices.

Address: http://biz.yahoo.com/i

\section*{Steps:}

1. Choose Company.

2. Choose Industry.

3. Select an industry.

4. Select a company.

5. Choose Research Report.

\section*{Instructions}

Answer the following questions:

(a) How many brokers rated the company?

(b) What percentage rated it a strong buy?

(c) What was the average rating for the week?

(d) Did the average rating improve or decline relative to last week?

(e) How do the brokers rank this company among all the companies in its industry?

(f) What was the amount of the earnings surprise during the last quarter (that is, to what extent were analysts' expectations of earnings incorrect)?

(g) Are earnings expected to increase or decrease this quarter compared to last?