Many retail investors are usually not trained or equipped with the right skills to do analysis of a company. Because of this, they don’t usually draw an analysis of companies more in-depth than those analysts working in the sell-side. There may be an exception of one or two who does provide a balance view in their analysis but they are mostly rare.
Analysts’ reports provide retail investors with an easy access to understand about the background and facts of the company they research in as well as their financial information in a summarized table. Interestingly, what is being focused in the reports by readers are always the analyst' recommendations and their 12 months projections outlook and target. I'd say most of the information and thesis regarding what the analysts put in their financial model and outlook remain valid, so I will not dismiss them straight away.
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