“When Do Analysts Add Value? Evidence From Corporate Spinoffs” , an academic paper, was the result of viewing 1739 analyst reports on corporate stock spinoffs.

My first response was to think just how thankful I am that the authors of the paper read all those analyst reports and not me!  They did it and I don’t have to.  They deserve another step toward tenure.  Seriously.  Whew!

Their observation that even though analysts could add a lot of information about the prospects of the spun off company, they usually don’t was not much of a surprise.  Even with all of the SEC documents that are filed on pro forma financials and the information in previous filings on the part the new entity played in the whole company in the past, it is common for it to seem like it is a pretty empty corner of analysis and prediction.

Actually, I sort of hope they don’t spur the analysts to get into this area more, since that lack of interest and information has always seemed to be a source of the mis-pricing that can create value in a stock spin-off.  There are precious few of those now that computers and the internet are flooding us with more information than most of us can deal with anyway.

In any event, the online synopsis of the paper reads easily for an academic piece and is worth a look.

Tags: analysts reports on spin-offs, spin-off stock, stock spin-off, stock spin-off investing