SystemInvestment Research & Analytics

Equity Research Automation

Equity research automation that reads, models and notes every earnings release before the open, every figure tied to its page

Every result read, modeled and noted before the open, every figure tied to its page.

See one case, screen by screen ↓
demo7secondsfrom the Marlowe Brands release posting on the wire to the crew picking it up
demo26minutesfrom that release to the analyst's signed earnings note, 29 to the portfolio managers
demo37failed tiescaught this season in the sample data, with 0 notes sent carrying an untied figure
target20–30%more names per analyst on the same research budget
In short

What is Equity Research Automation?

Equity research automation is software that takes the routine work of earnings season off a buy-side research team: catching each release, updating the analyst's model, checking the numbers and drafting the earnings note. In Equity Research Automation a crew of seven AI agents does this for every name in the coverage universe, in the analyst's own Excel model and the issuer's own language, and reports in a conversation on each company: what it caught, wrote, tied and drafted, every statement cited to its page. The analyst asks the crew questions in plain words, confirms or rejects what it proposes, approves estimate changes and signs; the Director of Research checks and releases the note to portfolio managers. It is AI for equity research in which the agents propose and people decide.

AI in asset management: a buyer's guide to agentic AI for investment managers →

Updated

The problem

Why equity research runs out of hours in earnings season

Buy-side equity research runs on the issuers' calendar: every quarter a team reads several hundred earnings releases in about five weeks, often four or five of one analyst's names on a single morning. For each one the analyst or associate catches the release, keys the numbers into the analyst's own Excel model, checks totals and history, compares the result with the house estimate, consensus estimates and the investment thesis, and writes an earnings note for the portfolio managers, ideally before the open and before the call. The note that matters most is the one most often late.

The costly errors are silent. A prior year recast after a divestiture makes growth read +0.8% instead of +4.6%; a segment table does not add up to the total; a figure in thousands is read as millions; a release published only in Japanese waits for a translation; a name on the restricted list gets a note. Research budgets are flat, so covering more names has to come from more reading per analyst hour, with the MNPI controls, the restricted list and the research records kept intact.

typical−0.2%change in research budgets at the 44 largest managers in H1 2025, while assets grew
typical15–45minutessaved per company on each model update, by a model-update vendor's own claim
Where one analyst's earnings season goes, in working days (38 names)estimated
By hand15 days
With the solution3.7 days
  • Watching for releases and chasing report dates1 → 0.1 d
  • Keying actuals into the model3 → 0.3 d
  • Checking totals, segments and prior periods2 → 0.3 d
  • Variance to the estimate, consensus and the thesis3 → 1 d
  • Writing earnings notes for portfolio managers5 → 1.5 d
  • Sign-off, compliance and distribution1 → 0.5 d

Estimated split for one analyst covering 38 names over a five-week season, by hand and with the solution. The analyst's time with the solution goes on decisions: confirming, approving, editing and signing.

How it works

How a release moves

Seven agents catch, read, re-tie, test and draft every release in the season; the analyst signs and the Director releases.

What comes in
Releases in486 names, 5 weeks · newswire, EDGAR, exchanges, IR pages; any language
Agents at work
Release Watchercaught in seconds
Then
Extractorthe analyst's own model
Tie-out Reviewerholds, never guesses
Then
Variance agentestimate and thesis
Note Drafterevery sentence cited
Then
Compliance Sentinelrestricted list, sources
Coverage Planner
A person decides
Analyst and Director of Researchsign, then release
What comes out
Model refreshed, cited
Signed note to PMs
Every step on the record
One case, step by step

One earnings morning with equity research automation, screen by screen

Thursday, November 5, 2026, week 4 of the Q3 season at Quillfield Capital, a global asset manager with research in New York, London and Singapore. Fourteen companies report at 7:00 a.m. ET; four of them are Priya Raman's. Here is how Marlowe Brands goes from the wire to a signed, checked earnings note in 29 minutes, in the working solution: the agents report in one conversation, Priya asks and decides, and every figure links to its page.

  1. 017:00 a.m. ET

    Fourteen releases due at once, and the board flips

    Release Watcher

    The season board shows Quillfield's whole coverage universe: 486 names, 14 analysts, 412 names signed so far. The Release Watcher, watching the newswire, EDGAR, exchange feeds and IR pages, catches 13 of the 14 releases due at 7:00 in a median of 7 seconds; Halden Industrial's IR page now says 7:30. Each row's status flips letter by letter as the crew works: Reading, Model refreshed, Ties checked, Note drafted.

    Needs a person: “Kestrel held: tie failed · Halden delayed · Corvane restricted · 4 notes drafted, to sign.”

  2. 027:21 a.m.

    One next step each, and what the agents already did

    Priya Raman · Equity Research Analyst

    Priya covers US Consumer Staples, 38 names, and her calls start at 8:30. Her Today screen shows 5 names reporting today, 2 notes waiting for her, 31 of 38 names signed this season and her median of 1 h 41 m from release to signed note against a 2-hour target. Under “Needs you”: sign Marlowe Brands; Tessaro Foods withdrew guidance and the draft proposes Neutral → Underweight, which Nadia Kerr must co-sign; Gristmill Beverage is still being tied. Every line of what the agents did links to its source.

    System strip: “Consensus feed 6 min behind · using the 06:45 snapshot.”

  3. 0307:00:11 to 07:06

    Caught in 7 seconds, modeled, then held

    Release Watcher · Extractor · Tie-out Reviewer

    She opens Marlowe Brands (NYSE: MRLW) and reads the crew's conversation. The Watcher caught the Q3 FY2026 release 7 seconds after it posted and matched the 8-K (Item 2.02) on EDGAR at 07:01:40. The Extractor read the 14-page release and the 22-slide deck and wrote 64 values into her own model, MRLW_Model.xlsx, as draft v39: actuals only, forecast cells untouched. The Tie-out Reviewer re-read every value with a different AI model: 61 of 64 tie, 3 do not.

    Tie-out Reviewer: “I will not let a note be drafted until these are explained.”

  4. 0407:09

    Page 6 recasts last year: growth is 4.6%, not 0.8%

    Tie-out Reviewer

    The Reviewer finds page 6, “Recast of prior-period results”: Pinecrest Pet was sold on September 30 and is now discontinued operations. Q3 FY25 net sales move from $3,188M in her model to $3,073M. It rebases 8 quarters, 24 cells, each cited to the recast table, and by 07:11 all 64 values tie. Model changes lays out the earnings model update: 64 actuals written, 24 history cells rebased, 5 estimates proposed, 0 forecast cells touched.

    “On your old figures growth would read +0.8%; on the recast base it is +4.6%.”

  5. 0507:14

    EPS beats the estimate; the margin claim is at risk

    Variance agent

    Adjusted EPS is $1.42 against Quillfield's $1.31 (+8.4%) and consensus of $1.33; net sales are $3,214M against the house $3,180M. Gross margin of 41.8% is 120 bps short of her 43% thesis. The bridge sizes the $0.11 beat: SG&A +$0.13, tax rate +$0.05, volume and price +$0.02 and other +$0.01, less gross margin −$0.10. Three of her four thesis claims are on track; claim 2, “Gross margin back to 43% in Q3 FY2026 as resin costs ease”, is at risk.

    Every row links to its page; consensus is labeled as the 06:45 snapshot while the feed runs behind.

  6. 0607:19 to 07:21

    A cited draft, a compliance check, and her question answered

    Note Drafter · Compliance Sentinel

    The Note Drafter writes 7 sentences with 11 citations and proposes FY26 EPS $5.22 → $5.34 and FY27 $5.70 → $5.74 on guidance raised to $5.30–$5.40. The Compliance Sentinel clears the draft: every source public or licensed, MRLW not on the restricted or watch list, no expert-call content. Priya asks how much of the beat came from tax. The Variance agent answers from page 9: $0.05 of the $0.11, so adjusted EPS would be about $1.37 without it, still above the house $1.31.

    Note Drafter: “Rating and price target unchanged; that is your call.”

  7. 0707:22 to 07:26

    She confirms, decides and signs as the maker

    Priya Raman · Equity Research Analyst

    In the Decisions panel she confirms the rebase, approves the five estimate changes into model v39 and moves the margin claim to Q2 FY27, and the note updates to say so. Then she signs: an attestation and a reason code. The signature is logged at 07:26, 26 minutes after the release posted.

    “I have read the note and its sources; the views are my own and I hold no position in MRLW.”

  8. 0807:29

    A second person checks and releases

    Nadia Kerr · Director of Research

    Nadia sees the note signed by Priya at 07:26, ties 64 of 64, compliance clear, no rating or target change. She releases it to the portfolio managers with the reason code “Checked: ties, thesis, sources”. The checker can never be the maker, and a rating change or a price-target change over 10% would also need her co-sign.

    On her screen: “Signed by Priya Raman at 07:26 · ties 64 of 64 · compliance clear · no rating or target change.”

  9. 09Before the open

    The PM reads what changed, with sources

    Tom Brennan · Portfolio Manager

    Tom's morning digest covers his holdings in Quillfield US Core Equity Fund. Marlowe Brands, 1.2% of the fund: beat on costs and tax, margin thesis moves to Q2 FY27, Overweight and the $96 target unchanged, FY26 EPS $5.22 → $5.34, signed by Priya Raman and checked by Nadia Kerr at 07:29. Kestrel Semiconductor, 2.3% of the fund, shows as held: no note until the analyst decides.

    Portfolio managers see research only once the analyst signs and a checker releases it.

  10. 10On the record

    Every step by people and agents, hash-chained

    Claire Dunmore · Internal Audit

    The audit trail holds the whole morning, from the release caught at 07:00 to Nadia's release at 07:29: who, what, when, why and the evidence for every agent step and both signatures. It is hash-chained, kept 7 years against the 5 that SEC Rule 204-2 requires, and holds 18,406 events this season. An export pack gathers a note's sources, model changes, signatures and compliance checks for auditors and examiners.

    “Chain verified.”

Who it’s for

Built for everyone who reads, signs and acts on research.

The same earnings morning, seen by five of the people who carry it: what earnings season looked like, and what it looks like now.

PR
Priya RamanEquity Research Analyst · US Consumer Staples · 38 names
Equity Research Analyst
Before
Four of her names report at 7:00 and the calls start at 8:30. She keys each release into her own model by hand, and the notes often slip to the next day.
Now
Opens each name already modeled, tied and drafted, every sentence cited. Her morning goes on the thesis, the estimate changes and the call.
NK
Nadia KerrDirector of Research · 486 names, 14 analysts
Director of Research
Before
Checks every note before portfolio managers see it, and moves names by hand when an analyst is out or a morning overloads.
Now
Sees what is late, held and overloaded on one board, checks and releases each signed note, and approves or rejects the Coverage Planner's proposals.
TB
Tom BrennanPortfolio Manager · Quillfield US Core Equity Fund
Portfolio Manager
Before
Wants to know what changed and whether the analyst still believes it, and too often gets the note after the open.
Now
Reads a digest of signed, checked notes for his holdings with the fund weight, what changed, the rating and the estimate changes, and can ask about any holding.
LM
Leo MartinsResearch Associate · supports US Consumer
Research Associate
Before
Re-keys figures from releases and chases readings for two analysts.
Now
Checks only the values the agents were unsure of, below 97% confidence, and prepares drafts. Sign stays locked for him: “Only the covering analyst signs a note (maker).”
AF
Amara FieldsResearch Compliance Officer · restricted list and MNPI policy
Research Compliance Officer
Before
Keeps the restricted list and has to stop any note on a wall-crossed name before it leaves the building.
Now
The Compliance Sentinel blocks drafting on a restricted name such as Corvane Biotherapeutics, and only Research Compliance can keep it blocked or clear it.
Built on the engine

7 agents. Each with one job, and hard limits.

Seven agents catch, read, re-tie, test and draft every release in the season; the analyst signs and the Director releases.

Release Watcher

Knows the report calendar and watches the newswire, EDGAR (8-K Item 2.02, 6-K, 10-Q), exchange disclosure feeds and 486 IR pages. It catches each release within seconds, confirms it is final, and flags a delay or a miss with what it checked.

  • Public sources only; never logs in to a paywalled site
  • Treats a pre-announcement as preliminary until the full release posts
Extractor

Reads the release, deck and filing in the original language and writes reported actuals into the analyst's own model as a new version, every cell cited to its page.

  • Writes actuals only; never touches forecast cells
  • Below 97% confidence a value goes to the research associate, not a guess
Tie-out Reviewer

Independently re-reads every value with a different AI model, re-adds segments and subtotals, compares history with the model and finds recast tables. When the issuer's recast explains a difference, it rebases the history, cites the page and asks the analyst to confirm.

  • Never fixes a value by guessing
  • A tie it cannot explain holds the note
Variance agent

Compares actuals and guidance with the house estimate, consensus estimates and each thesis claim, marks every claim on track, at risk or broken with the evidence, and sizes what drove the beat or miss.

  • Never changes an estimate or a thesis claim; proposes only
Note Drafter

Writes the earnings note in the house template with every sentence cited, proposes estimate and thesis changes, and asks the analyst what it cannot decide.

  • Never changes a rating or price target
  • Never sends a note
Compliance Sentinel

Checks every note before release: restricted and watch lists, public sources only, expert-call content cleared, disclosures present.

  • Blocks; never clears a restricted name (Research Compliance does)
Coverage Planner

Builds the season calendar and each analyst's load, and proposes who takes which names when an analyst is out or a morning overloads.

  • Proposes only; the Director of Research approves every move
Analyst, Director of Research, Compliance

Maker, checker, restricted names. The agents propose; a named person decides.

Ask in plain words

Ask the crew about any name, or tell it what to do

Analysts ask about a release, a tie or a thesis claim in plain words, or give the agents a task. Answers cite the page they came from; when the answer is not in the sources, the crew says so instead of guessing.

How much of the beat came from tax?

$0.05 of the $0.11 beat came from the lower tax rate: 21.4% this quarter against 23.0% in your model. Excluding it, adjusted EPS would be about $1.37, still $0.06 above our $1.31.

Why did gross margin miss?

Gross margin was 41.8%, down 80 bps on the recast prior year; management blames resin and packaging costs and promotion. Your claim of 43% in Q3 is at risk. I would ask about Q4 resin contracts on the 8:30 call.

Why is Kestrel held?

Kestrel's end-market lines add to $1,212M but the total says $1,216M; last quarter a $3M “Other” line closed the gap. I cannot tell which is right from the release, so the note is held. The 10-Q is due Friday; Ben can wait for it or accept with the difference noted.

Add a question for the 8:30 call

Added to your 8:30 call list: “Q4 resin contract pricing, and when does promotion normalize?” I will read the transcript when it posts and draft an addendum if the answer moves the margin claim.

Every screen

The working solution, as it ships.

13 screens from the working solution, on its sample data. Pick one to see it large.

The season boardEquity research automation on one board: every name reporting, its analyst, a status that flips as the agents work, the variance to the house estimate and the season count of 412 of 486 names signed.
The analyst's morningNames reporting today, notes waiting, the season so far, one next step each, and a cited list of what the agents did this morning.
The crew's conversationThe release caught in 7 seconds, 64 values written to the analyst's model, a failed tie held and the recast on page 6 found, each step with its source and confidence.
The earnings model updateEstimates proposed for approval, actuals written with page and confidence, and history rebased to the recast table, with forecast cells untouched.
Variance and thesisAI earnings analysis on one screen: results against the house estimate and consensus estimates, the bridge that sizes the $0.11 EPS beat, and each thesis claim marked on track or at risk.
Ask the agentsThe cited draft, the compliance check, and the analyst's question about the tax rate answered from page 9 of the release.
The analyst signsDecisions made with reasons, then the earnings note signed with an attestation and a reason code, as the maker.
The Director releasesThe checker sees who signed, the tie count and the compliance result, and releases the note to portfolio managers with a reason code.
A Japanese release, side by sideA kessan tanshin read in the original Japanese beside the English, every figure matched digit for digit and cited to its page.
ExceptionsEverything held instead of guessed: a failed tie, a restatement, a delayed or missing release, a restricted name, each with what the agent found and proposes.
The portfolio manager's digestSigned, checked notes for one fund's holdings, with the weight, what changed, the rating and the estimate changes.
The audit trailEvery step by people and agents with who, what, when, why and the evidence, hash-chained and verified, with an export pack.
Rules and thresholdsTie tolerances, extraction confidence, variance alerts, service levels and allowed sources, with a proposed change waiting for the Director.
Governance

Equity research automation you can audit: cited, signed twice, on the record.

Every figure and sentence citedEvery value in the model, every agent statement and every sentence of a note links to its page and passage. Releases in another language show the original beside the English.
Signed by two people, never the same oneThe analyst signs as the maker; the Director of Research or a regional head checks and releases as the checker. Rating changes and price-target changes over 10% also need the Director.
Agents propose; people decideAgents never write a forecast cell, change an estimate, rating, target or thesis claim, send a note or clear a restricted name. Every human decision carries a reason code.
A compliance check on every noteThe Compliance Sentinel checks the restricted and watch lists, public sources only and expert-call clearance before a portfolio manager sees a word, in support of the firm's MNPI policy under Advisers Act Section 204A.
A hash-chained audit trailEvery agent step and human decision is recorded with who, what, when, why and the evidence, kept 7 years against Rule 204-2's 5, and exports as a pack for auditors and examiners.
Versioned agents, approved settingsEach agent's version and model are on record. A change to an agent or a threshold is proposed by the administrator, tested on 1,240 past releases with known answers, and approved by the Director.
Configuration

Your research rules, as settings

Tie tolerances, variance alerts, service levels and the sources a note may cite are settings. Every change is proposed by the administrator, tested on past releases first and approved by the Director of Research.

SettingDefaultChoose from
Tie tolerance, reported valuesExact to the release's roundingA value that does not tie holds the note
Tie tolerance, derived ratios±0.05%±0.03% proposed by the administrator, waiting for the Director
Extraction confidence for straight-through97%Below it, a value goes to the research associate
Variance alertsEPS ±5% · revenue ±2% · margins ±50 bpsSet per line; changes approved by the Director
Price-target change needing the DirectorOver 10%Rating changes always need the Director's co-sign
Target: release to signed note (pre-open)2 hoursEach note in the sign-off queue shows the time left to the target
Escalate an unsigned note to the DirectorAfter 4 hoursSigning can then be handed to a regional head
Sources a note may citePublic filings, releases, licensed dataNo expert-call content without clearance
Connections

Works with the feeds, models and systems research already runs on

Newswire and SEC EDGARearnings releases, 8-K Item 2.02, 10-Q, 10-K and 6-K filings
Exchange disclosure feeds and IR pagesTokyo, Frankfurt, Paris, Milan, Korea, B3 and more; 486 IR pages watched
Model storeeach analyst's own Excel model, every version kept
Market data and consensus estimatesprices, shares, FX and consensus by line item
Research management system and CRMnotes, theses, distribution, management meetings
Compliance, OMS and portfolio accountingrestricted list and expert-call log; holdings and fund weights, read only
What it changes

The difference, in numbers.

Every figure is labelled: a target the solution is built to, an estimate, a typical published result, or a proven one.

target
20–30%
more names per analyst on the same research budget
Today30–60 names, budgets flat
With agentsevery release read the day it posts
target
0
notes reaching a PM with a figure that does not tie to the release
every number re-tied
by an independent agent
target
2h
from release to a signed note, before the open

“demo” = seen in the working solution, on its sample data · “target” = the design goal, measured in the live solution · “estimated” = our estimate · “typical” = published figures (Substantive Research, research budgets at the 44 largest managers in H1 2025, via Hedge Fund Alpha; a model-update vendor's claim of 15–45 minutes saved per company update). Rules named for context: SEC Form 8-K Item 2.02, Advisers Act Section 204A and SEC Rule 204-2. People, firms, funds and companies named on this page are fictional: characters and sample data in the working solution.

Questions

What research teams ask about equity research automation.

What is Equity Research Automation?

Equity research automation is software that takes the routine work of earnings season off a buy-side research team: catching each release, updating the analyst's model, checking the numbers and drafting the earnings note. In Equity Research Automation a crew of seven AI agents does this for every name in the coverage universe, in the analyst's own Excel model and the issuer's own language, and reports in a conversation on each company: what it caught, wrote, tied and drafted, every statement cited to its page. The analyst asks the crew questions in plain words, confirms or rejects what it proposes, approves estimate changes and signs; the Director of Research checks and releases the note to portfolio managers. It is AI for equity research in which the agents propose and people decide.

How does AI update an analyst's earnings model?

The Extractor reads the release, deck and filing and writes reported actuals into the analyst's own Excel model as a new version, every cell cited to its page. It never touches forecast cells; estimate changes are proposed in a separate block for the analyst to approve, edit or reject. Values read below 97% confidence go to the research associate instead of being guessed.

How does it catch restated or recast prior-period results?

An independent Tie-out Reviewer re-reads every value with a different AI model, re-adds segments and subtotals, and compares history with the model. When the issuer recasts prior periods, as Marlowe Brands did on page 6 after a divestiture, it rebases the history to the recast table with the page cited and asks the analyst to confirm. A difference it cannot explain holds the note.

Can AI write an earnings note for portfolio managers?

It drafts one. The Note Drafter writes the note in the house template with every sentence cited and proposes estimate and thesis changes, but it never changes a rating or price target and never sends a note. The analyst edits and signs it, and a second person checks and releases it to portfolio managers.

How does AI equity research stay within MNPI and restricted list rules?

To support the firm's MNPI compliance, the Compliance Sentinel checks every note before release: the restricted and watch lists from the compliance system, public sources only, expert-call content cleared and disclosures present. A restricted name is blocked before drafting, and only Research Compliance can clear it. Every check is on the audit trail.

Does it read earnings releases in Japanese, German or Portuguese?

Yes. Releases are read in the original language, such as a Japanese kessan tanshin, a German quarterly statement or a Brazilian release, and shown side by side with the English. Each English figure is checked against the original and cited to its page.

Does AI replace equity research analysts?

No. In this kind of automated equity research the agents catch, read, tie, test and draft; the analyst decides. Estimate changes, thesis claims and the signature belong to the analyst, the Director of Research or a regional head releases every note, and rating changes need the Director's co-sign. The design target is 20–30% more names per analyst on the same research budget.

How long does it take to go live?

The Agentic Solution Engine builds and deploys it from your requirements and documents: your coverage universe, your analysts' model templates, your note template and your rules. It goes live once every quality gate has passed. We will walk you through it on last season's releases for your own covered names first.

See it on
your coverage.

We'll run Equity Research Automation on last season's releases for your own covered names and your own analysts' models.