When studying the world of finance, it is important to understand the practice of analysts publishing earnings forecasts for the companies they monitor. Surprisingly, some analysts may publish a lower number than what they truly believe in order to avoid a negative surprise. However, it is believed that they "whisper" their true predictions to their closest confidantes. It is worth noting that the "whisper" numbers found on the internet are usually a combination of the analysts' consensus forecasts and the average of the most recent two or three earnings surprises. This highlights the importance of understanding the methodology behind these forecasts and not blindly relying on them.