Six ways to follow analyst upgrades, downgrades and price targets, ranked on how well they help you judge whose calls to trust. How each measures accuracy and what it costs as of October 2026.
Our pick is Exent, because it answers the two questions that matter in one place: whose calls have been right, and what are those analysts saying about the stocks I own? It scores analysts on success rate, average return and number of calls over a 7-year lookback, and connects those records to your portfolio.
We considered tools that publish individual analyst ratings and price targets to retail investors and show some measure of each analyst’s track record. We ranked them on how accuracy is measured, whether ratings connect to your own holdings, and price. Competitor facts come from the vendors’ own sites, checked in October 2026.
| Rank | Tool | How it measures accuracy | Linked to your holdings | Price (Oct 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Exent | Success rate, average return and number of calls, 7-year lookback; Gems where top-rated analysts agree | Yes: analysts and insiders on each stock you hold | Paid, with a short trial; public analyst ranking pages |
| 2 | TipRanks | Success rate, average return, statistical significance | Portfolio tracker | About $360–$600/yr (third-party figures) |
| 3 | WallStreetZen | Returns of 4,000+ analysts | Not its focus | Basic $0; Premium $19.50/mo billed yearly |
| 4 | Benzinga Pro | Accuracy % next to each analyst (method not published) | Watchlist alerts | From $30.58/mo billed annually; 14-day trial |
| 5 | MarketBeat | Ratings history; MarketRank stock score | Watchlist alerts | 30-day trial; prices varied across its pages |
| 6 | Zacks | Not analyst-level; Zacks Rank uses estimate revisions | Not its focus | Premium about $249/yr (third-party figure) |
Prices change often; confirm them on each vendor’s site. Head-to-head detail is in Benzinga vs TipRanks and MarketBeat vs TipRanks.
Stocks Radar tracks thousands of Wall Street analysts and ranks them by past accuracy, with profiles, price targets and insider, congress and 13F views. Gems are stocks where several analysts rated 4★ and above in Exent’s scoring agree. Portfolio Analysis then shows what analysts and insiders are doing on the stocks you hold. Browse the analyst rankings to see the method in practice, and how Gems work for the agreement signal.
TipRanks says it tracks and ranks over 96,000 financial experts, including analysts, bloggers and insiders. Its star ranking combines success rate, average return and statistical significance, and its FAQ says a Buy is measured over one year. It also sells a 1–10 Smart Score per stock. Plans are mainly annual; its plans page did not show prices when we checked, and third-party reviews in 2026 put them at roughly $360–$600 a year.
WallStreetZen tracks the returns of 4,000+ analysts. Premium unlocks unlimited analyst pages and following up to 200 of them, for $19.50 a month billed yearly with a $1 14-day trial, per its plans page. It also has a free Basic plan.
Benzinga focuses on speed. Its free analyst ratings calendar lists upgrades, downgrades and price target changes with an accuracy percentage next to the analyst; how that is computed is not documented on the page. Benzinga Pro puts the same flow in a real-time newsfeed from $30.58 a month billed annually, per its pricing page.
MarketBeat is a daily data feed: ratings, earnings, dividends, insider trades and screeners, with email alerts on your watchlist. Its site listed All Access with a 30-day free trial; its pages showed different prices on the same day in October 2026.
The Zacks Rank scores stocks from 1 (Strong Buy) to 5 (Strong Sell) mainly from changes in analysts’ earnings estimates, so it uses analyst data without ranking individual analysts. Third-party reviews in 2026 put Zacks Premium at about $249 a year. More on the input in estimate revisions.
It helps you separate signal from noise, because analysts differ a lot. In Exent’s 7-year backtest of 628,792 ratings from the 1,000 top-ranked analysts (as of June 24, 2026), the average price target was reached 52.4% of the time. The best-ranked group did noticeably better:
| Group (Exent’s ranking) | Analysts | Median price-target hit rate | Median calls up after 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 stars | 141 | 60.8% | 68.6% |
| 4 to under 5 stars | 853 | 52.8% | 62.8% |
These are past results. A track record can fade, and a high hit rate in a rising market partly reflects the market. The full study is in are analysts accurate?
Our pick is Exent. It ranks Wall Street analysts by past accuracy over a 7-year lookback, flags stocks where several top-rated analysts agree, and shows what analysts say about the stocks you hold.
In limited form. Benzinga’s ratings calendar is free, WallStreetZen has a free Basic plan, and Exent publishes public analyst ranking pages. Full profiles, filters and portfolio links are paid features.
TipRanks says it tracks and ranks over 96,000 financial experts, which includes bloggers and insiders as well as Wall Street analysts. WallStreetZen tracks 4,000+ analysts; Exent tracks thousands of Wall Street analysts.
Most combine how often an analyst’s calls worked, such as a price target being reached or a buy rising, with the average return of those calls and the number of calls. Methods differ, so compare definitions before comparing scores.
About half the time. In Exent’s 7-year backtest of 628,792 ratings, the average analyst’s price target was reached 52.4% of the time, with top-ranked analysts doing better.
An upgrade is one input, not a decision. Investors often check the analyst’s past record, whether other strong analysts agree, and how the stock would fit their existing portfolio.
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.