本研究探討分析師在進行盈餘預測時，是否將公司顧客集中度對企業未來盈餘的影響，納入其考慮範圍內，以及對該指標是否能正確地理解。利用1988年至2018年間有關顧客集中度變化的資料。根據Patatoukas（2012）的發現，顧客集中度是個領先指標，因為公司的顧客集中度增加，可以預測該公司未來的營業績效將提升，因此探討顧客集中度的變化是否影響分析師盈餘預測修訂。研究結果發現分析師的盈餘預測修訂受顧客集中度變化的影響，亦即分析師在進行盈餘預測時會考量顧客集中度的資訊。然而研究結果亦發現預測偏誤與顧客集中度變化呈正相關，表明分析師並未完全理解顧客集中度對未來盈餘的含義。最後，本研究發現與其他分析師相比，經驗更豐富的分析師，能更理解顧客集中度對未來盈餘的影響。

Prior studies suggest that customer concentration is a leading indicator of performance in business, because efficiencies accrue to suppliers with concentrated customer bases. This study uses samples from 1988 to 2018 listed companies in the U.S. to examine whether analysts accurately capture and understand the information contained in measures of customer concentration. This study hypothesizes that analysts can incorporate changes in customer concentration in their earnings forecasts, but often can’t fully understand the meaning of them. This study finds that analysts revise their earnings forecasts in response to changes in customer concentration even though they do not fully understand the implications of what is contained in their customer concentration data. The study then provides evidence that analysts with more experience are better at appreciating the implications of customer concentration data than others. Overall, our findings suggest that analysts often have difficulty completely understanding the meaning of complicated information.

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