Is Nutanix a Buy as Wall Street Analysts Look Optimistic?

When deciding whether to buy, sell, or hold a stock, investors often rely on analyst recommendations. Media reports about rating changes by these brokerage-firm-employed (or sell-side) analysts often influence a stock's price, but are they really important?

Before we discuss the reliability of brokerage recommendations and how to use them to your advantage, let's see what these Wall Street heavyweights think about Nutanix (NASDAQ: NTNX).

Nutanix currently has an average brokerage recommendation of 1.69, on a scale of 1 to 5 (Strong Buy to Strong Sell), calculated based on the actual recommendations (Buy, Hold, Sell, etc.) made by 13 brokerage firms. An ABR of 1.69 approximates between Strong Buy and Buy.

Of the 13 recommendations that derive the current ABR, seven are Strong Buy and three are Buy. Strong Buy and Buy respectively account for 53.9% and 23.1% of all recommendations.

Brokerage Recommendation Trends for NTNX

While the ABR calls for buying Nutanix, it may not be wise to make an investment decision solely based on this information. Several studies have shown limited to no success of brokerage recommendations in guiding investors to pick stocks with the best price increase potential.

Do you wonder why? As a result of the vested interest of brokerage firms ...