Finance Data Station

I/B/E/S Information

Database Name
IBES (pronounced "eye-biss")

Website
http://www.thomson.com

Current Versions/Years Available
Data available from 1987 - Present

Overview of the Data
The Institutional Brokers Estimates System provides current and historical consensus and detail forecasts from security analysts, for more than 18,000 companies worldwide. Forecast data items include earnings per share, revenue, cash flow, long-term growth projections, and stock recommendations.

The complete database contains 4 sets of files:

US Detail and Intl. Detail - Contain analyst-by-analyst detailed forecasts for U.S. and international companies, respectively.

US Summary and Intl. Summary - Contain mean, median, sdev, etc. for analysts' forecasts on a monthly basis, for U.S. and international companies, respectively.

Our Subscription
The Accounting Department maintains a current subscription.

How to Access This Data
IBES data are contained only on the Accounting (unix) server. This database is not available on the finance department server.

If you are new to the department or new to accessing the accounting (unix) server, information about how to get your research account set up can be found at: http://www.ic.arizona.edu/ic/trombley/dbdocs/setup.html - (Current Window)

Once you have your UA NetID account activated, you'll need to have Mark provide you with permission to access the /fa (Accounting unix) server. To do this, send him an email request at: trombley@email.arizona.edu

Before accessing the IBES data, permission should be obtained from Thomson Financial. It is important to follow the specific directions given on Mark Trombley's IBES website at: http://www.ic.arizona.edu/ic/trombley/dbdocs/ibes.html - (Current Window)

The IBES datasets are typically accessed using SAS, and sample programs for pulling IBES data from the accounting server are provided in certain directories on the accounting server. The directories where the sample programs are contained are listed at the bottom of the page listed above.

IBES documentation can also be accessed off Mark's website at: http://www.ic.arizona.edu/ic/trombley/dbdocs/docs.html - (Current Window)

You will need a username and password to access the IBES documentation. The username and password are contained on the accounting server in the /fa1/finacct/passwords.txt file.