At the rating I atleast see buy is higher than sell. Can this be true?

The statement "buy is higher than sell" refers to the ranking of ratings within the traditional stock rating system, where buy, sell, and hold are the primary recommendations. In this context:

1. Buy Rating: Typically represents a strong belief that the stock will perform well and is a good investment opportunity.
2. Sell Rating: Generally indicates a negative outlook, suggesting that the stock is expected to underperform or be a poor investment.
3. Hold Rating: Suggests a neutral stance, where the analyst does not see any immediate catalysts for a significant increase or decrease in the stock's price.

In terms of the actual ranking, buy is considered the most positive rating, followed by hold, and then sell, which is the most negative rating. However, the phrase "buy is higher than sell" can be misleading if taken out of context.

Here are a few points to consider:

1. Rating Scales: Different brokerage firms and analysts may use varying rating scales. For instance, some may use a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is sell and 5 is buy, while others may use a scale of strong buy, buy, hold, underperform, and sell.
2. Rating Distribution: It's important to understand the distribution of ratings for a particular stock. If a stock has a high number of strong buy ratings and a low number of sell ratings, it could be argued that the majority of analysts have a positive outlook, even if there are hold ratings included.
3. Context is Key: The statement "buy is higher than sell" needs to be considered in the context of the overall rating landscape. If a stock has a majority of buy ratings with only a few sell ratings, it can be true that buy is higher than sell in terms of frequency, but this does not necessarily mean that the buy ratings are not strongly influenced by the sell ratings.

In summary, while it's true that buy is generally considered a more positive rating than sell, the statement "buy is higher than sell" should be evaluated in light of the specific rating scales, distribution of ratings, and context in which it is made.