About the Zacks Rank- Short Term Rating
Since 1988 Zacks #1 Rank stocks (Strong Buys) have produced an average annual return of 26% per year. The rank is produced through a daily quantitative process that looks at four factors dealing with earnings estimate revisions and earnings surprises. The Zacks Rank is an excellent timeliness indicator proving very effective in predicting stock price movements relative to the market over the next 1-3 months.

The Zacks Rank is broken down into 5 levels:

Performance information for other Zacks’ portfolios and strategies is available at: http://www.zacks.com/performance

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About Zacks Recommendation- Long Term Rating

Our firm has long believed that quantitative models, like the Zacks Rank, can predict stock prices more accurately than individual analysts. However we also recognize that models are most effective when they are employed by analysts who have deep fundamental knowledge of the company and its industry. Zacks Recommendations provide that best of both worlds approach given our usage of both a quantitative model and equity analysts.

Quantitative Recommendations: As noted above the Zacks Recommendations are built on top of the Zacks Rank. We created this new quantitative model that has proven to be extremely profitable for long term stock selection. For all stocks covered by the Zacks Rank, we can create a quantitative Zacks Recommendation. This is displayed to Zacks Premium subscribers on the web site and featured in the Snapshot research reports for all stocks not covered by our analysts. More on that below.

Analyst Recommendations:The Zacks Equity Research division employs a team of 55 analysts to make stock recommendations. Our analysts are fully versed in the benefits of earnings estimate revisions and how that is harnessed through the Zacks Rank and the new long term quantitative model. We give our analysts the ability to override the quantitative recommendations for the 1,050 stocks that they follow. These recommendations are also shared with Zacks Premium subscribers on the web site and featured in the detailed Analyst research reports as the Zacks Recommendation.

Learn More about the difference between Analyst Reports and Snapshot Report

Why override the quantitative model? First, because there are often factors such as valuation, industry conditions and management effectiveness that a trained investment professional can spot better than a quantitative model. Second, and most importantly, our analyst recommendations have overall outperformed the model in the cases where they have overridden the quantitative recommendations.

The Zacks Recommendation is broken down into 3 Levels; Outperform, Neutral and Underperform. Unlike most Wall Street firms we have an excellent balance between the number of Outperform and Neutral recommendations. More importantly, our performance is stellar.(See Zacks Recommendation Performance)

Which Stock Rating is Right for You?
The short answer is that it depends on your investment time horizon. If you are a short term trader, then the Zacks Rank with its 1 to 3 month outlook is most appropriate. If you are a long term investor, then best for you to turn to the Zacks Recommendations that is meant for a 6+ month time horizon. You might also want to search for stocks that are highly rated by both systems.

Zacks Rank & Equity Research Resources

Zacks Rank Home: Here you will discover all the tools and resources to make the most of the Zacks Rank. Be sure to bookmark this page for future reference.

Zacks Equity Research Home: All the articles, recommendations and reports from Zacks Equity Research can be found here. Be sure to bookmark this page for future reference.

Quote Page: Premium members to our site can get the Zacks Recommendation along with the Zacks Rank for stocks on the quote pages of Zacks.com

Portfolio Tracker and Daily Email Updates: Zacks Premium members who track their portfolios on Zacks.com get a daily email update which provides vital updates such as changes in the Zacks Rank and Zacks Recommendation for the stocks you are following.