I always knew this is what happens, and a money manager finally confirmed it.

Some money manager talking head said that analysts revise their price targets because they don't want to look foolish or get laughed at when the current stock price passes their price target.

e.g. if there's a bubble and the stock shoots to $420.69, the analysts with their original price targets at $250 hurry up and increase their price targets to $420 so that they don't look foolish. Others might announce a ridiculous $600 price target (just to 1up other analysts and look cool maybe?)

And you notice what happens next? The price target is supposed to be a 12-month target. But moms/ pops bid up the stock right up to the 1 year target the same or next day! e.g. AVGO.

Given enough time, this cycle of squeezeprice target increasesqueeze could happen a few times.

Then what happens when the rug pull comes? mom/pop stuck holding the bag at a big loss.

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Even though the fundamentals say that $250 is a fair price, these weak analysts give in to peer pressure. I wish these clowns would grow some balls and stick to their original analysis.

I also wish that the SEC would require analysts' track records to be published alongside their price target announcements, because a lot of these guys are full of shit.

The info is not easy to find, but if you do find it, you discover that some of these analysts turn your $100 into $40. Terrible track records. The average investor is too easily influenced by these clowns. It's detrimental.