I've wondered about the same. Here is the public info about one such analyst Gene Munster - http://www.piperjaffray.com/1col.aspx?id=7&analystid=131 . Some choice bits - "specializing in Internet" , "holds a bachelor's degree in financial management and new venture strategies from the University of St. Thomas" "coverage includes Google, Yahoo!, Amazon, Baidu, and MercadoLibre" . Sounds like a good gig to me!

Someone should compile information about these tech analysts, their educational qualifications, their official job details (organizations they work for, job duties they perform over a typical year, their goals and objectives etc.), the data they work off of, their predictions from 2008 onwards, hit/miss ratio, stock price fluctuations attributable to their predictions and any other interesting tidbits.

May be something sinister will come out of it or may be not - but it will still be interesting to look at.

Every quarter the publicly-traded tech companies hold earnings calls. After the company gives its spiel, it allows the analysts to ask questions. These calls are open to the public, and I suggest you listen in on one for a company you know well; the questions you hear will tell you pretty much all you need to know about these analysts.