<p>This study examines the effect of analyst coverage on corporate carbon emissions in China. The empirical analysis is based on an unbalanced panel of A-share listed firms over the period 2010–2024, employing firm fixed-effects and system GMM estimators to control for unobserved heterogeneity and dynamic persistence. Both total carbon emissions and carbon intensity are considered in order to distinguish between scale effects and emissions efficiency. The results show that analyst coverage is positively associated with total emissions in static specifications, consistent with expansion in firm scale, while it is negatively associated with carbon intensity, indicating improved emissions efficiency. This pattern is consistent with a scale–efficiency trade-off, under which increased analyst scrutiny is associated with firm growth alongside more efficient emissions outcomes. The dynamic estimates confirm that the efficiency effect remains after accounting for persistence in emissions behavior. Further analysis indicates that these relationships vary with firm characteristics and external conditions. Firms with higher export exposure exhibit a stronger positive association between analyst coverage and total emissions. In contrast, stronger corporate governance is associated with lower emissions and reduces the marginal effect of analyst coverage. Overall, the findings suggest that analyst coverage is systematically related to firms’ carbon performance through both scale and efficiency channels, pointing to the role of financial market monitoring in shaping environmental outcomes.</p>