The Swedish population has the world?s largest percentage of shareholders either by direct or indirect owning. Due to the increasing interest of equity capital markets, private as well as institutional investors rely on forecasts from Financial analysts. The reason for this is due to the lack of expertise among investors in this area. Due to the fact that analysts influence the Swedish stock market immensely, it?s of great interest to explore whether an analyst can be seen as a rational participant.

The accounting of today results in reports that are valued according to one kind of value.There are advocates who recommend that the accounting should be expanded by one orseveral columns, which would enable that other methods of valuation could be used. In thisessay we examine how the ?multi column reporting? can alter the outcome of a financialanalysts? valuation procedure.In this essay we used existing theories about the Financial analysts? usage of information toreach the lack of information we found and which we aim to erase whit this essay. To do thiswe studied decision theories and theories regarding information processing, and by interviewswith three Financial analysts. After we collected the information needed for the analyses, wethen also compared the results of the interviews with related theories.The theories about decision in this essay concern whether a decision is based on rationality,bounded rationality or irrationality.

Introduction: Analysts worldwide valuates stocks and companies by using different valuation models. The models are used to calculate how much public company?s stocks are worth and to identify whether stocks are over- or undervalued.  Objective: The objective of this essay is to study which valuation models are mainly used by Financial analysts in Swedish banks. The purpose is also to study how reliable these models are considered. Method: The empirical study is based on a qualitative approach through interviews with Financial analysts. The study includes both primary data (interviews) and secondary data (literature, websites and scientific articles)Theory: The theory chapter includes methods of analysis (fundamental and technical analysis), Valuation models, components of valuation and an example of a valuation with the Discounted cash flow model. Empirical study: The study includes a qualitative research that consists of interviews with Financial analysts.

Time has passed since the new standards regarding goodwill were introduced. Duringthe period that occurred pre the financial crisis several companies managed to creategreat goodwill assets on their balance sheet. These assets were highlighted during thefinancial crisis and the aim of this study is to evaluate analysts contemporaryconsideration of these assets. The study will be of interest due to the fact that we nowfind ourselves in-between periods, post financial crisis and pre euro crisis. Ourempirical study has been carried out by interviewing analysts covering IT-companiestraded on the Swedish stock exchange.Our analysts were chosen with consideration to the fact that they were coveringcompanies where acquisitions are common.

Background: The interest in shares has increased over the years, despite several stock market crashes. One reason for this is the emergence of stock trading online,which makes it easier for individuals to trade in shares. However, there has been much criticism towards financial analyst with the lack of fundamental basis to support their recommendations.Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine the share valuation models swedish Financial analysts today applies and consider appropriate. A comparison will also be carried out in previous studies, to see if the application of the modelsand their suitability has changed.Method: The study used a qualitative approach with deductive approach. Semistructured interviews were conducted and the basis for the study's primary data.The theories and previous studies obtained through secondary data.Results: Our results demonstrate that no single model applied, is appropriate.

The purpose of this master thesis is to evaluate how the current share price and market consensus affect security analysts target price and if an investor should pay any attention to it. Empirical data is primarily collected from qualitative interviews with ten security analysts but also from a quantitative e-mail survey. Our main finding is that security analysts are indeed affected by each others earnings forecasts as well as the current share price. This is not strange, it is in several aspects rational. Security analysts has often nothing to gain by standing out too much and not either by spending too much time trying to create their own opinions due to lack of time or the complexity of what is analyzed.

This study highlights the structures and networks thatexist among Financial analysts on the Swedish financial market. The study isbased on nine semi-structured interviews with buy- and sell-side analysts, anindependent analyst and an Investor Relations Manager.The theoretical framework of the study is based on acombination of the research fields Behavioral Finance and Social Studies ofFinance. These two research fields have proven to be a good basis for thequalitative approach used in the analysis. The study is divided into four thematic areas: Fundamentals / Psychology, Independence and consensus, Ranking and Social network.The results show that there are a large number offactors, structures and interpersonal relationships that affect how analystsmake their decisions and conduct their analysis. Among other things, theinterdependence between analysts and their counterparts prohibits the movetowards a more clear system for compensation.

Since January 1st 2005 all companies listed on a regulated stock exchange within the European Union are required to present their financial reports in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The intention of the introduction of IFRS is to achieve international harmonization of accounting rules in order to make financial reports more comparable between companies from different countries. The purpose of financial reports presented in accordance with IFRS is to provide information that is useful to the users of the information. The aim of this paper is to investigate whether the information regarding goodwill and the goodwill impairment test, presented in accordance with IFRS, in fact is useful to a specific group of accounting information users, namely equity analysts. An empirical study is conducted, based on interviews with seven Swedish equity analysts.

Previous studies have shown that there is a relationship between voluntary disclosure and analysts' forecast accuracy. However, there has been no research conducted specifically on bridges. Bridges contain information on how components such as price, volume, foreign exchange rates and acquisitions have impacted the financial performance between two periods. The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate the usage of bridges in quarterly financial information of companies listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. We provide a descriptive mapping of bridges and find that 30 out of 268 companies are presenting bridges as a part of their voluntary disclosures, with large firms being the most frequent users.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate if the stock market reacts differently to accounting information, depending on the stock market climate. The study focuses solely on stocks listed on the OMX Stockholm 30 during each year from 2005 to 2009. By applying the concept of Earnings Response Coefficient we can estimate how the market reacts to accounting information. The dependent variable in the equation is the market reaction on unexpected earnings, in the study described as the abnormal return on stock. For quality purposes we measure this on a ±1,5,10 and 20 days basis.

This thesis investigates whether it is accordance between the different profit measures in the financial market. The first aim of the thesis is to examine if it exists a difference between the profit measures that companies publish in their fourth quarter interim report and the measures that they state in their annual report, issued some months later. The second aim is to examine whether there is a divergence in definitions and the assumption regarding the risk of bankruptcy between profit measures published by companies and analysts. The study focuses on Swedish companies listed on the OMX Stockholm Large Cap and concerns the years of 2006 and 2007. The analysts interviewed are working in Sweden with listed Swedish companies.

There has been an increase in the importance and amount of information concerning publicly traded stocks in recent years. When analyzing and valuing stocks finding new ways of collecting information has therefore increased in importance. This thesis aims to explore how meetings with management can impact the stock valuation done by the security analysts. Furthermore the case study examines what kind of information analysts can receive by interpreting management at these meetings. This case study of ten Swedish security analysts show that the analyst?s stock valuation is directly or indirectly affected by the meetings.

The question of whether Financial analysts can forecast stock movements or not has been widely debated for many years. This study examines if an investor has been able to receive an excess return by following Financial analysts? recommendations. We continue by studying if an investor has been able to earn a different excess return by following different types of recommendations. The study includes more than 15,000 recommendations made by 10 first tier banks and brokerages on the Swedish market during the years 2003-2007.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the method called zero recognition that is used in accounting for construction contracts when the outcome is uncertain. When this is the case it is hard to make the necessary estimates needed for the percentage of completion method to be used. Both the meaning of the method from an accounting perspective and the practical importance and purpose of the method is investigated. The method used for this study is the qualitative one and the deductive model is used to relate the theory with the empirical research. The theoretical background consists of accounting theory and theories about individuals, companies and markets.

Background: An evaluation of analysts´ forecasting ability is interesting since their estimates constitute an important part in stock valuation and investment decisions. The recent years´ development in the stock market has lead to criticism of analysts? deficient forecasts. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate analysts´ forecasting ability concerning companies quoted at Stockholmsbörsen between 1987 and 2002. We also intend to discuss possible explanations for analysts? behavior in case of deficient accuracy.