No, equity research is not the same as investment banking. Both jobs have similarities but clear distinctions in overall purpose. Equity researchers evaluate companies with the goal of making investment recommendations. They analyze a company in all aspects, from its financials to its competition to its industry outlook, and its share price, to determine how the company might perform in the future and how its share price might move. Investment bankers also analyze companies in a similar fashion, but their goal is to determine whether a company is suitable for a merger or acquisition.