Basantji,
Agree with your views on most analysts. Analyst reports should be used for getting information only rather than analysis - which we ourselves have to do.
One aspect where I differ is my preference to hear management views of forecasts on numbers since it requires management to be far more thorough than forecast on qualitative parameters only which is easier. It helps to judge management over the long run. The management that is good at forecasting business scenarios and numbers also get a premium valuation like Infosys.
For a retail investor like us, getting the nos and weaving it into the overall projections throws up inconsistencies far more easily.
However I also completely agree with you that pure numbers without taking into consideration the overall business environment, competition, strategy is meaningless since the weaving as mentioned above needs to be tie up with the qualitative paramters as well.