What’s the Difference Between Buy-Side and Sell-Side Analysts?

    Anthony Tan

     

    Those performing research for institutional clientele in the stock market are often divided into two distinct camps – buy-side and sell-side analysts. While each side may spend their time digging up insights on companies, industries, and potential returns that allow investors to make informed decisions from a financial standpoint, it’s important to note there can be some stark differences between these groups beyond simply needing different information.

    Sell-Side Analysts

    Most often work in brokerage firms managing individual accounts to provide tailored recommendations for clients of the firm. On the other hand, Buy-Side Analysts are employed by institutional investors such as hedge funds, endowments, and pension funds and serve as advisors on research conducted when making decisions about investments with their respective funds

    Sell-Side Analysts are tasked with monitoring and analyzing companies in their chosen field. They create extensive reports based on financial data, research findings and interviews that they conduct – all to help provide insights for the firm’s clients. Additionally, analysts will use models to calculate particular metrics which then inform estimates or target prices as well as painting a picture of where they recommend investing money into specific stocks.

    When it comes to stock prices, the consensus estimate is king. Analysts crunch various models and if a company beats these expectations their stocks will climb – or dive should they fail meet them. But what happens when analysts can’t quite get their estimates right? That’s where ​the ‘whisper number’​ comes in – an exclusive prediction that analyst don’t always make public but may have greater accuracy than the consensus numbers!

    Analysts provide insight to the investment community on which stocks are most attractive, through assigning ratings of “buy”, “sell” or “hold.” These recommended courses of action signify a reflection of not just how they believe particular companies will perform compared to their peers but also offers an indication as to where funds should be allocated in order for individuals and groups alike maximize potential rewards from investing.

    Buy-side analysts

    Are responsible for providing advice and recommendations to institutional investors, such as hedge funds, endowments, and pension funds. They are tasked with making sound investment decisions by having an extensive working knowledge of the companies they cover. This involves building models, tracking information, and conducting research to make well-informed judgments.

    Buy-side analysts have wider responsibilities than sell-side analysts, who typically dedicate half of their time to conducting research for maximum accuracy in insights gathered from top sources. The primary responsibility of buy-side analysts is to generate returns on behalf of their clients, which requires them to assess a variety of data and create exclusive reports for internal use.

    Brokers and dealers often seek buy-side analysts who can provide insightful research, offering them the opportunity to earn soft dollar credits as a reward for transaction fees. This makes it possible for brokers and dealers to acquire valuable insights while providing an incentive to the analysts. However, those working for pure research firms charge hard dollars for their work without providing brokerage services.

    Ultimately, the role of buy-side analysts is to make sound investment decisions based on their extensive knowledge of the companies they cover. They must balance risk and reward, and their decisions can have a significant impact on the performance of the funds they manage. As such, buy-side analysts play a critical role in the financial markets and are highly valued by institutional investors.

     

    Last Updated: March 2026. This article has been reviewed and updated to reflect current market conditions and the latest analyst data available on AnaChart.

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    Buy-Side vs Sell-Side Analysts: FAQ

    What is a sell-side analyst?

    A sell-side analyst works at a brokerage or investment bank and publishes research, ratings, and price targets for a broad set of investor clients. These public targets are what AnaChart tracks and scores for accuracy.

    What is a buy-side analyst?

    A buy-side analyst works at an asset manager or hedge fund and researches investments privately to guide their own firm’s decisions, generally without publishing public price targets.

    Which analysts’ price targets can I track on AnaChart?

    AnaChart tracks sell-side analysts’ published price targets and ratings, with a per-stock accuracy record for each, going back to 2004.

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

    For institutional teams: AnaChart’s full analyst price-target and accuracy dataset — every analyst, every target and revision since 2004 — is available warehouse-native through AnaChart Corporate Access, delivered straight into Snowflake or Google BigQuery with no ETL.