Hacker News Reader

> Forecast is created by company employees, based on what they know and the company plans.

Forecasts are created by financial analysts working for big banks and brokerage firms, not Google employees.

Ultimately, they use financial analysts for the annual reports, but these analysts don't make numbers out of thin air, they are using the data generated by Google on their current activities and their own forecasters' expectations. Big banks analysts do not have access to as much company knowledge as the employees themselves.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com