Equity Research

One-line definition: The public-markets practice of thesis-driven analysis of companies — Kyle’s reference point for what Contrary Research aims to build for private companies.

How sources describe it

• Thesis-driven: analysts start with a particular thesis and explore from there. (from Open-Source Knowledge - Research)
• Incentive critique: buy-side vs. sell-side analysts face a tension between “being interesting vs. being right”; Andrew Lanyi quipped “most Wall Street research shoots for mediocrity and never quite makes it.”
• In public markets there’s a single, fairly coherent body of demand; private markets lack the disclosure that makes that possible.

Where it shows up

• Open-Source Knowledge - Research — public-markets analog for Contrary Research.

Related concepts

• Contrary Research — aims to build for private companies what equity research does for public markets.
• Open-Source Knowledge - Research — the research note where equity research serves as the public-markets reference point.
• Knowledge Economy — thesis-driven analysis as a knowledge-production practice.
• Triangulation — analytical method for building a thesis from multiple sources.
• Private Equity — private-markets domain that lacks the disclosure underpinning public equity research.
• Venture Capital — private-markets investing where the absent disclosure regime is most acute.
• Investment Returns — what thesis-driven analysis ultimately aims to generate.
• Data in Investing — public-market disclosure is the data substrate equity research depends on.