Although a large body of research documents the significance of the relationship between accounting information—especially reported earnings—and security prices, most of this research examines the connection between accounting information and market-level phenomena. Little research exists, however, to help practicing equity analysts who are trying to use earnings data to produce accurate valuations for particular stocks. In this monograph, the authors provide an extensive primer on earnings classifications that is intended to improve analysts' ability to determine the quality and persistence of earnings. Moreover, they present the results of two original experiments designed to determine how analysts actually use earnings information in reaching stock–price judgments, and they report findings that hold valuable lessons about the ability of analysts to identify opportunistic earnings management.