, Columnist
Unicorns May Throw a Lifeline to Stock Analysts
Beleaguered research shops eye a new revenue model covering private companies.
Is a bull market in Wall Street research possible?
Photographer: ANGELA WEISS/AFPFor years, equity research has struggled to develop a sustainable revenue model. The spectacular growth in private markets may provide the opening that Wall Street analysts have been groping for.
With US exchange listings having halved since 1996 and 1,489 unicorns now worth $5 trillion collectively, analysts are increasingly being asked to pass their slide rule over unlisted companies. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has launched coverage of OpenAI, and Citigroup Inc. hired a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. technology analyst to lead coverage of around 100 names.