How AnaChart Ranks Analysts: Our Methodology Explained

By Mathew Auto, AnaChart research desk.

AnaChart ranks stock analysts entirely on verified historical performance, not on reputation, firm prestige, media appearances, or follower counts. This page explains exactly how our ranking methodology works and why we built it this way.

The Core Problem with Analyst Consensus

The standard approach to using analyst data is to look at consensus, the average rating and average price target across all analysts covering a stock. The problem is that consensus treats every analyst equally, regardless of their track record.

An analyst who has been wrong on a stock for three consecutive years carries the same weight in consensus as an analyst who has been right eight times out of ten.

AnaChart is built around a different premise: analyst track records vary enormously, the variation is persistent over time, and surfacing the most accurate analysts gives investors a meaningfully better signal than consensus alone.

The full database of analyst price target data, 660K+ price targets and 750K+ ratings across 7K+ analysts, is available for direct warehouse access or as a one-time custom report.

How far the consensus lands from the price

We measured the average target against the share price 12 months later for 8,537 stock-and-date pairs at quarter ends from 2019 to 2024. The median miss was 23.8%. The consensus landed within 10% of the price only 22.4% of the time, and it sat above the price a year later in 56.3% of cases. The best-record analyst’s own target missed by a median 25.1% and was closer than the consensus in 45.8% of pairs.

What We Measure

We track three things for every analyst on every stock they cover:

The first measure is the plainest. Of 575,976 targets from 3,332 analysts with a live AnaChart page, 408,490 were reached, which is 70.9%. The 167,486 not reached include recent targets that still have time. Reached targets took 335 days on average.

Key takeaway: Of 575,976 price targets, 70.9% were reached, taking 335 days on average.

Price target success rate, the percentage of price targets that were reached within the standard 12-month window. This is the most direct measure of whether an analyst’s specific numerical call was correct.

We measure this at the stock level, so you can see not just how accurate an analyst is overall, but how accurate they have been on the specific ticker you care about.

Average return on successful calls, the average gain between the stock price at the time of the rating and the price target, for targets that were successfully reached.

This distinguishes between analysts who set conservative targets that are easy to hit and analysts who identify larger upside moves.

Coverage consistency, how recently and how regularly the analyst has covered the stock. An analyst’s historical track record is most relevant when it is recent and covers multiple cycles. We weight recent accuracy more heavily than accuracy from five years ago.

This is why we report the return alongside the hit rate. In the 43-firm study, Wolfe Research set targets an average 23.7% above the price and reached 80.0% of them. H.C. Wainwright set targets an average 83.8% above the price and reached 44.3%. A hit rate on its own rewards the small target, and the return figure shows what the hit was worth.

Key takeaway: Wolfe Research reached 80.0% of targets set 23.7% above the price, H.C. Wainwright 44.3% of targets set 83.8% above it.

What We Don’t Factor In

We deliberately exclude several factors that other platforms incorporate. We do not factor in analyst seniority, educational background, or firm prestige, these correlate weakly with actual accuracy at the stock level.

We do not use analyst reputation scores or star ratings from third parties. We do not factor in the volume of media appearances or social media following. Only the verified track record on verified historical calls counts.

Stock-Level vs Overall Rankings

A critical feature of AnaChart’s approach is that we rank analysts at the stock level, not just overall. The best analyst overall covering 200 stocks may have a mediocre record on the specific stock you are researching.

The analyst ranked 50th overall may have an exceptional record on that particular name. We surface both views so you can use the most relevant signal.

Of 96 analysts with 10 or more targets on three or more of 46 big stocks, 28 are above 80% met on every stock and 39 have a gap of 30 points or more between their best and worst. Gil Luria ranges from 20% to 95% across 12 stocks. Vijay Rakesh ranges from 85% to 98% across 7. An overall score would hide both patterns.

Key takeaway: Of 96 analysts covering three or more big stocks, 39 have a 30-point gap or more between their best and worst stock.

Using AnaChart Rankings in Practice

When you look up any ticker on AnaChart, you see each analyst’s current rating and price target alongside their historical success rate and average return on that specific stock.

This lets you immediately assess whether the most bullish analyst has a history of being right, or a history of missing high. It also lets you identify when historically accurate analysts diverge from consensus, which is often the highest-signal situation.

Explore analyst rankings on AnaChart →

Two stocks where the hit rate and the score point different ways

On Tesla, Ben Kallo of Baird has met 166 of 175 targets, 94.9%, with an average of 284 days to target and a performance score of 3.51. Andres Sheppard of Cantor Fitzgerald has met 38 of 48, 79.2%, in an average of 64 days and holds a score of 8.60. Kallo is more often right. Sheppard’s hits came faster and from further away.

On Oracle, Keith Weiss of Morgan Stanley has met 46 of 48 targets, 95.8%, in an average of 411 days, with a score of 1.90 and a $210 Hold target. Tyler Radke of Citi has met 20 of 26, 76.9%, in an average of 111 days, with a score of 7.32 and a $330 Buy target. Both figures are on the stock page, and the reader chooses which matters more for the question at hand.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does AnaChart calculate an analyst’s accuracy?

AnaChart measures whether each analyst’s price targets were achieved within the 12-month window they set, tracked on a stock-by-stock basis.

This produces a per-stock hit rate for each analyst, showing not just whether an analyst is generally good, but whether they’re specifically reliable on the stocks they cover.

Does AnaChart track ratings, price targets, or both?

Both. AnaChart records each analyst’s rating calls (Buy/Hold/Sell) and price targets, and tracks how accurate each specific call turned out to be over time. This gives you a complete picture of an analyst’s forecasting track record, not just their current stance.

Why track analysts by individual stock rather than overall?

An analyst might be excellent at covering semiconductor stocks but consistently wrong on energy stocks. A single overall accuracy score would obscure this specialization. By tracking per-stock accuracy, AnaChart reveals where each analyst’s real expertise lies, which is far more actionable than a blended average.

Need the underlying data? AnaChart’s custom analyst data reports let you query the full database directly, price target history, accuracy scores, broker comparisons, any ticker or analyst, any timeframe.

One-time reports from $149, delivered as Excel the we aim to fulfil same day, up to 48 hours.

What share of price targets are reached?

70.9% of 575,976 targets from 3,332 analysts were reached, measured on 4 Oct 2026. Reached targets took 335 days on average.

Why can an analyst with a lower hit rate have a higher score?

The score weighs how fast and from how far the target was met. On Tesla, Ben Kallo has met 94.9% of targets with a score of 3.51, while Andres Sheppard has met 79.2% in an average of 64 days with a score of 8.60.

Related on AnaChart: browse the top performing analysts by sector, and compare platforms in AnaChart vs TipRanks.