Research

Analyst ratings on stocks are a regular feature in financial news coverage. Upgrades, downgrades, and price target changes can often create volatile one-day price movements, but the sustainability of that price action is frequently dubious. In today’s research, we analyzed whether there is any investable information to be gleaned from analyst ratings, changes in ratings

Over the last several years we have maintained the view, that it was prudent for long-only US equity managers to be at least market-weight the Mag 7. Our views have evolved to the point where we are changing our mind and believe lowering exposure is prudent.

The Lag 7 Last week we recommended that investors reduce their exposure to the Mag 7 (link here). A combination of the stocks being high beta, their aggregate high and increasing capital spending-to-sales, relatively expensive valuation, and above-normal potential for disruption were the catalysts for our more cautious view. In our dozens of investor calls

Analyst ratings on stocks are a regular feature in financial news coverage. Upgrades, downgrades, and price target changes can often create volatile one-day price movements, but the sustainability of that price action is frequently dubious. In today’s research, we analyzed whether there is any investable information to be gleaned from analyst ratings, changes in ratings

The Case for Market-Weight the Mag 7 Over the last several years we have maintained the view, that it was prudent for long-only US equity managers to be at least market-weight the Mag 7. Today, our views have evolved to the point where we are changing our mind and believe lowering exposure is prudent. Our

The conventional wisdom is that 2025 will be a big year for Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A). Less regulation and pent-up demand have most of the lawyers and investment bankers we know quite busy these last few weeks. Hence, we looked at all M&A for the last 25 years for US companies, small-cap or larger, that

Last Monday was a wake-up call for some portfolio managers. Whether explicitly through top-down work or ex-post through bottom-up security identification, many investors are overweight growth investment themes they believe can work for many years. Last year (see here) we identified six key long-term growth themes; AI Semiconductors, AI Software, Power / Utilities, Housing /

In December, we wrote a detailed note about beta (link), and how there is persistent alpha destruction associated with each incremental increase in portfolio beta. Investors tend to ignore beta when the market is performing well, like it did in 2023 and 2024. But the recent price action is likely a warning sign for CIOs,

The conventional wisdom is that 2025 will be a big year for Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A). Less regulation and pent-up demand have most of the lawyers and investment bankers we know quite busy these last few weeks. Hence, we looked at all M&A for the last 25 years for US companies, small-cap or larger, that

We’re hosting our next monthly Parker Perspectives webinar on Tuesday, February 4th, at 11 AM EST, where we’ll dive into this research and much more. If you haven’t registered yet, click here to sign up. As always, feel free to reach out with any questions or for insights on these or other topics shaping the