Using sell-side notes in the research process

How do you all leverage sell-side research when looking at a company/idea for the first time? What about when you are more familiar with the name, already have a thesis, and in the “tracking incremental news flow” stage? My guess is there will be a few types of answers. Some will be puritans who don’t use the sell side at all, and will only read Ks, Qs, etc. Others will rely heavily on sell-side to get up to speed and serve as a launching pad for where to dig further. How does your answer change at LO vs SM vs pods? Curious to hear thoughts from others

Fwiw, personal approach is to read the business overview section of initiations and track upgrades/downgrades

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