What is Equity Research?
Equity research is the practice of analyzing publicly traded companies to determine whether their stock is a good investment. Analysts study a company’s financial statements, competitive position, industry trends, and management quality to form an investment opinion — typically expressed as a Buy, Hold, or Sell rating with a specific price target. There are two main branches. Sell-side research is produced by analysts at investment banks (Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley) and distributed to institutional clients such as mutual funds and hedge funds. Buy-side research is conducted internally at asset management firms (Fidelity, BlackRock, Citadel) to inform their own portfolio decisions. Both sides follow similar analytical frameworks, but sell-side research is published externally while buy-side research stays internal. An equity research analyst’s day revolves around a cycle: cover a universe of 10-20 stocks in a specific sector, publish reports when news breaks (earnings, M&A, regulatory changes), maintain financial models with updated estimates, and communicate views to portfolio managers and traders. The outputs of this work — earnings reports, initiation reports, morning notes, and investment theses — directly influence billions of dollars in trading and investment decisions every day.How the Pieces Fit Together
The equity research workflow follows a natural progression. You initiate coverage on a new company with a deep-dive report, then maintain that coverage through quarterly earnings updates, thesis tracking, and model revisions. Along the way, you generate ideas through screening, analyze sectors for top-down context, and communicate your views through morning notes.Plugin:
equity-research · Version: 0.1.0 · Author: Anthropic FSICommands
Commands are invoked directly in Claude Code. Each command loads the corresponding skill and guides you through a structured workflow./earnings
Analyze quarterly earnings and create a post-earnings update report (8-12 pages) with beat/miss analysis, updated estimates, and revised thesis.
/earnings-preview
Build a pre-earnings preview with consensus estimates, key metrics to watch, and bull/base/bear scenarios.
/initiate
Launch the 5-task workflow to create an institutional-quality initiating coverage report (30-50 pages).
/thesis
Create or update an investment thesis, tracking key pillars, catalysts, and conviction over time.
/morning-note
Draft a concise morning meeting note covering overnight developments, earnings reactions, and trade ideas.
/catalysts
Build or review a catalyst calendar across your coverage universe for any time horizon.
/screen
Run quantitative screens or thematic sweeps to surface new long and short investment ideas.
/sector
Create a sector overview report covering market sizing, competitive dynamics, and investment implications.
/model-update
Update a financial model with new earnings actuals, revised guidance, or changed assumptions.
Skills
Skills are the underlying knowledge modules loaded by commands. Each skill defines a detailed workflow, output specifications, and quality standards.earnings-analysis
Creates 8-12 page earnings update reports with beat/miss analysis, 8-12 charts, and a complete sources section with clickable hyperlinks. Turnaround: 24-48 hours.
earnings-preview
Builds pre-earnings analysis with consensus estimates, a “what to watch” framework, and bull/base/bear scenario tables with stock price implications.
initiating-coverage
5-task workflow producing institutional-quality initiation reports: company research, financial modeling, valuation analysis, chart generation, and final report assembly.
thesis-tracker
Maintains structured investment theses with pillar scorecards, update logs, catalyst calendars, and conviction tracking across sessions.
morning-note
Drafts 1-page morning meeting notes covering overnight news, earnings reactions, key events today, and actionable trade ideas.
catalyst-calendar
Builds and maintains a structured calendar of earnings, corporate, industry, and macro events with impact ratings and position implications.
idea-generation
Runs quantitative screens (value, growth, quality, short, special situation) and thematic sweeps to surface new investment ideas with one-page summaries.
sector-overview
Creates comprehensive industry landscape reports covering TAM, competitive dynamics, key players, valuation context, and investment implications.
model-update
Plugs in new actuals and guidance, revises forward estimates, recalculates valuation, and summarizes the estimate change impact.
Getting Started
Run your first earnings analysis
After a company reports, type
/earnings AAPL Q1 2025 in Claude Code. The command will search for the latest results, load the earnings-analysis skill, and guide you through producing an 8-12 page update report.Initiate coverage on a new name
Type
/initiate TSLA to begin the 5-task initiating coverage workflow. Each task is executed one at a time, with verification before proceeding to the next stage.Prepare for earnings season
Use
/earnings-preview NVDA ahead of a report date to build bull/base/bear scenarios, identify the 3-5 key metrics to watch, and understand the options-implied move.Output Formats
| Skill | Primary Output | Format |
|---|---|---|
| earnings-analysis | Post-earnings update report | DOCX (8-12 pages) |
| earnings-preview | Pre-earnings preview note | Markdown / DOCX (1 page) |
| initiating-coverage | Full initiation report | DOCX (30-50 pages) + XLSX model |
| thesis-tracker | Thesis scorecard | Markdown / DOCX |
| morning-note | Morning meeting note | Markdown / DOCX (1 page) |
| catalyst-calendar | Event calendar | XLSX + weekly preview note |
| idea-generation | Idea shortlist | Markdown (5-10 one-pagers) |
| sector-overview | Industry landscape report | DOCX / PowerPoint + XLSX appendix |
| model-update | Updated financial model | XLSX + estimate change summary |