Are Analyst Price Targets Accurate? 7 Years of Data
How often Wall Street price targets are reached, how long it takes, and how the promised upside compares with what stocks actually did. From Exent’s backtest of 983,543 analyst ratings.
How often George Sutton’s price targets were reached, how fast, and what the stocks did after each call: a 7‑year backtest of 2,119 ratings, compared with the average Wall Street analyst.
Exent re-checks this page every day. Ratings appear 30 days after they are published; live calls are in Gems.
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George Sutton of Craig-Hallum ranks #389 of the 1,181 analysts Exent scores, with a 4.9★ rating and a focus on technology. Over a 7‑year lookback, 45.4% of George’s price targets were reached, 7.7 points below the 53.1% average across all analysts.
| Metric | George Sutton | All analysts |
|---|---|---|
| Price‑target hit rate | 45.4% | 53.1% |
| Median days to hit target | 89 days | 93 days |
| Calls up after 12 months | 50.9% | 64.4% |
| Median 12‑month return of calls | +1.4% | +13.5% |
| Hit rate, last 2 years | 41.7% | — |
| Average worst drop after a call | −35.3% | — |
| Ratings in the sample | 2,119 | — |
| Stocks covered | 58 | — |
The full records of Exent’s top 50 analysts and the top 50 of each sector, and the stocks where several of them agree right now, are members‑only in Exent Gems.
| Time to reach the target | George Sutton |
|---|---|
| Under 30 days | 20.4% |
| 30–90 days | 29.9% |
| 90–180 days | 22.0% |
| Over 180 days | 27.8% |
Share of the targets that were reached, by how long they took. Targets are usually set for 12 months.
| Stock | Ratings in the sample |
|---|---|
| APLD | 33 |
| ATEX | 24 |
| INOD | 20 |
| EHTH | 20 |
| TSX-DCBO | 20 |
| WYFI | 19 |
| CORZ | 16 |
| SLQT | 16 |
In the past year George’s ratings were 95% Buy, 5% Hold and 0% Sell.
Across 983,543 ratings, the average Wall Street analyst’s price target was reached 53.1% of the time: close to a coin flip. The spread between analysts is wide, and 14.3% of the 965 analysts with a measurable record reached 70% or more (Exent data, Nov 9, 2026).
Exent Gems is built on the top 50 of Exent’s ranking. Over the last two years, some of them reached 90% or more of their price targets. Who they are, which stocks they are calling now and how often they have been right is for members.
| Date | Stock | Action | Rating | Price target |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 9, 2026 | ??? | ??? | ??? | ??? |
| Nov 6, 2026 | INOD | Maintained: Buy | Buy | $75.00 |
| Nov 6, 2026 | ACIW | Reiterated: Buy | Buy | $74.00 |
| Nov 5, 2026 | EHTH | Maintained: Hold | Hold | $0.75 |
| Nov 5, 2026 | HUT | Reiterated: Buy | Buy | $120.00 |
| Oct 2, 2026 | WT | Reiterated: Buy | Buy | $29.00 |
| Oct 1, 2026 | BRUN | Maintained: Buy | Buy | — |
| Oct 1, 2026 | HIT | Reiterated: Buy | Buy | $4.00 |
George published 1 rating in the last 3 days, the latest on Nov 9, 2026. George’s ratings are free on Exent 3 days after publication. Exent Gems has them the same day, with the calls of the top‑ranked analysts and the stocks where several of them agree.
Also at Craig-Hallum: Greg Palm · Jason Kreyer · Jeff Van Rhee · Anthony Stoss · Aaron Spychalla · Eric Stine
Also covering technology: Jaeson Schmidt · Ryan Koontz · Mark Newman · Richard Baldry · Melissa Fairbanks · Karl Keirstead
Exent replays every rating with a price target over a 7‑year lookback: was the target reached, how long it took, and what the stock returned 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after the call. The star rating and rank combine success rate, average return and the number of ratings, so a few lucky calls do not make a top analyst. Statistics as of Nov 9, 2026; ranking updated Nov 11, 2026. How accurate are analyst price targets overall?
Past performance does not guarantee future results. Historical figures are calculated by Exent from market data and are for education only; they are not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security.
By Exent’s scoring George Sutton ranks #389 of 1,181 with a 4.9★ rating. 45.4% of price targets were reached over a 7-year lookback (all analysts: 53.1%), and 50.9% of calls were up 12 months later. Past accuracy does not guarantee future accuracy.
In Exent’s 7-year price-target backtest, 45.4% of George Sutton’s price targets were reached, with a median of 89 days to reach a target (all analysts: 53.1%).
George Sutton (Craig-Hallum) covers 58 stocks, mostly in technology. The most frequently rated are APLD, ATEX, INOD, EHTH, TSX-DCBO.
Exent tracks 4,000+ analysts, keeps only the elite few with proven records, and surfaces the Gems where they agree.
Educational content, not investment advice. Examples are illustrative; past performance does not guarantee future results.