IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/joares/v50y2012i1p41-74.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Earnings Volatility, Post–Earnings Announcement Drift, and Trading Frictions

Author

Listed:
  • SEAN SHUN CAO
  • GANAPATHI S. NARAYANAMOORTHY

Abstract

We find that lower ex ante earnings volatility leads to higher Post–Earnings Announcement Drift (PEAD). PEAD is a function of both the magnitude of an earnings surprise and its persistence. While prior research has largely investigated market reactions to the magnitude of the earnings surprise, in this study we show that the persistence of the earnings surprise is equally important. A unique feature of the anomalous PEAD returns documented here concerns the association between abnormal returns and trading frictions. Besides demonstrating that firms with lower earnings volatility have higher abnormal returns, we also find that lower earnings volatility firms have lower trading frictions. Taken together, these findings imply that higher abnormal returns are associated with lower trading frictions. We exploit this implication to empirically demonstrate that PEAD returns due to earnings volatility are not concentrated in the firms with the largest trading frictions, which is in contrast to the findings in prior anomaly studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Sean Shun Cao & Ganapathi S. Narayanamoorthy, 2012. "Earnings Volatility, Post–Earnings Announcement Drift, and Trading Frictions," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 41-74, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:joares:v:50:y:2012:i:1:p:41-74
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-679X.2011.00425.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-679X.2011.00425.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1475-679X.2011.00425.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brown, Lawrence D., 1993. "Earnings forecasting research: its implications for capital markets research," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 295-320, November.
    2. Harrison Hong & Terence Lim & Jeremy C. Stein, 2000. "Bad News Travels Slowly: Size, Analyst Coverage, and the Profitability of Momentum Strategies," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(1), pages 265-295, February.
    3. X. Frank Zhang, 2006. "Information Uncertainty and Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(1), pages 105-137, February.
    4. Sudarshan Jayaraman, 2008. "Earnings Volatility, Cash Flow Volatility, and Informed Trading," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(4), pages 809-851, September.
    5. Brown, Lawrence D., 1993. "Reply to commentaries on "Earnings forecasting research: its implications for capital markets research"," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 343-344, November.
    6. Bernard, Victor L. & Thomas, Jacob K., 1990. "Evidence that stock prices do not fully reflect the implications of current earnings for future earnings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 305-340, December.
    7. Paul Hribar & Daniel W. Collins, 2002. "Errors in Estimating Accruals: Implications for Empirical Research," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(1), pages 105-134, March.
    8. Griffin, Pa, 1977. "Time-Series Behavior Of Quarterly Earnings - Preliminary Evidence," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(1), pages 71-83.
    9. Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R. & Rajgopal, Shiva, 2005. "The economic implications of corporate financial reporting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1-3), pages 3-73, December.
    10. Collins, Wa & Hopwood, Ws & Mckeown, Jc, 1984. "The Predictability Of Interim Earnings Over Alternative Quarters," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(2), pages 467-479.
    11. Bernard, Vl & Thomas, Jk, 1989. "Post-Earnings-Announcement Drift - Delayed Price Response Or Risk Premium," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27, pages 1-36.
    12. Kothari, S. P. & Sabino, Jowell S. & Zach, Tzachi, 2005. "Implications of survival and data trimming for tests of market efficiency," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 129-161, February.
    13. Brown, LD & Han, JCY, 2000. "Do stock prices fully reflect the implications of current earnings for future earnings for AR1 firms?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1), pages 149-164.
    14. Mashruwala, Christina & Rajgopal, Shivaram & Shevlin, Terry, 2006. "Why is the accrual anomaly not arbitraged away? The role of idiosyncratic risk and transaction costs," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1-2), pages 3-33, October.
    15. Frankel, Richard & Litov, Lubomir, 2009. "Earnings persistence," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1-2), pages 182-190, March.
    16. Jeffrey T. Doyle & Russell J. Lundholm & Mark T. Soliman, 2006. "The Extreme Future Stock Returns Following I/B/E/S Earnings Surprises," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(5), pages 849-887, December.
    17. Arthur Kraft & Andrew J. Leone & Charles E. Wasley, 2007. "Regression‐Based Tests of the Market Pricing of Accounting Numbers: The Mishkin Test and Ordinary Least Squares," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(5), pages 1081-1114, December.
    18. Dichev, Ilia D. & Tang, Vicki Wei, 2009. "Earnings volatility and earnings predictability," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1-2), pages 160-181, March.
    19. Brown, Ld & Rozeff, Ms, 1979. "Univariate Time-Series Models Of Quarterly Accounting Earnings Per Share - Proposed Model," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(1), pages 179-189.
    20. Joshua Livnat & Richard R. Mendenhall, 2006. "Comparing the Post–Earnings Announcement Drift for Surprises Calculated from Analyst and Time Series Forecasts," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(1), pages 177-205, March.
    21. Brown, Philip, 1993. "Comments on 'Earnings forecasting research: its implications for capital markets research' by L. Brown," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 331-335, November.
    22. Zhiyan Cao & Ganapathi S. Narayanamoorthy, 2011. "The Effect of Litigation Risk on Management Earnings Forecasts," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(1), pages 125-173, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Peng-Chia Chiu & Timothy D. Haight, 2020. "Investor learning, earnings signals, and stock returns," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 671-698, February.
    2. Tao Chen & Robert K. Larson & Han Mo, 2024. "Investor Herding and Price Informativeness in Global Markets: Evidence from Earnings Announcements," Journal of Behavioral Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(1), pages 92-110, January.
    3. Goh, Jihoon & Jeon, Byoung-Hyun, 2017. "Post-earnings-announcement-drift and 52-week high: Evidence from Korea," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 150-159.
    4. Alexander Barinov & Shawn Saeyeul Park & Çelim Yıldızhan, 2024. "Firm complexity and post-earnings announcement drift," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 527-579, March.
    5. He, Shuoyuan & Narayanamoorthy, Ganapathi (Gans), 2020. "Earnings acceleration and stock returns," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1).
    6. Heejeong Shin & Su-In Kim & Sorah Park & Hyejeong Shin, 2019. "The effect of Industry Homogeneity on the Magnitude of Post- earnings Announcement Drift: Evidence from Korea," Asian Academy of Management Journal of Accounting and Finance (AAMJAF), Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, vol. 15(1), pages 107-127.
    7. Nick Guest & S. P. Kothari & Eric So, 2023. "Flight to Earnings: The Role of Earnings in Periods of Capital Scarcity," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(8), pages 4908-4931, August.
    8. Jacob Thomas & Frank Zhang & Wei Zhu, 2021. "Dark Trading and Post-Earnings-Announcement Drift," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(12), pages 7785-7811, December.
    9. Baker, H. Kent & Ni, Yang & Saadi, Samir & Zhu, Hui, 2019. "Competitive earnings news and post-earnings announcement drift," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 331-343.
    10. Zhang, Sijia & Gregoriou, Andros, 2020. "Post earnings announcement drift, liquidity and zero leverage firms: Evidence from the UK stock market," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 13-26.
    11. Heejeong Shin & Hyejeong Shin & Su-In Kim, 2019. "The Market Sentiment Trend, Investor Inertia, and Post-Earnings Announcement Drift: Evidence from Korea’s Stock Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-19, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. He, Shuoyuan & Narayanamoorthy, Ganapathi (Gans), 2020. "Earnings acceleration and stock returns," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1).
    2. Richardson, Scott & Tuna, Irem & Wysocki, Peter, 2010. "Accounting anomalies and fundamental analysis: A review of recent research advances," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 410-454, December.
    3. repec:grz:wpsses:2020-04 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Po‐Chang Chen & Ganapathi S. Narayanamoorthy & Theodore Sougiannis & Hui Zhou, 2020. "Analyst underreaction and the post‐forecast revision drift," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(9-10), pages 1151-1181, October.
    5. Lorek, Kenneth S., 2014. "A critical assessment of the time-series literature in accounting pertaining to quarterly accounting numbers," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 315-321.
    6. Richard M. Morton, 1998. "The Incremental Informativeness of Stock Prices for Future Accounting Earnings," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(1), pages 57-81, March.
    7. S. P. Kothari & Charles Wasley, 2019. "Commemorating the 50‐Year Anniversary of Ball and Brown (1968): The Evolution of Capital Market Research over the Past 50 Years," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(5), pages 1117-1159, December.
    8. Fink, Josef, 2021. "A review of the Post-Earnings-Announcement Drift," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(C).
    9. Schnaubelt, Matthias & Seifert, Oleg, 2020. "Valuation ratios, surprises, uncertainty or sentiment: How does financial machine learning predict returns from earnings announcements?," FAU Discussion Papers in Economics 04/2020, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Institute for Economics.
    10. Guanming He, 2021. "Credit rating, post‐earnings‐announcement drift, and arbitrage from transient institutions," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(7-8), pages 1434-1467, July.
    11. Dana Hollie & Philip B. Shane & Qiuhong Zhao & Steven Cahan, 2017. "The role of financial analysts in stock market efficiency with respect to annual earnings and its cash and accrual components," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 57(1), pages 199-237, March.
    12. Ramnath, Sundaresh & Rock, Steve & Shane, Philip, 2008. "The financial analyst forecasting literature: A taxonomy with suggestions for further research," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 34-75.
    13. Jumming Hsu & Xu-Ming Wang & Chunchi Wu, 1998. "The Role of Earnings Information in Corporate Dividend Decisions," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 44(12-Part-2), pages 173-191, December.
    14. Hou, Kewei & van Dijk, Mathijs A. & Zhang, Yinglei, 2012. "The implied cost of capital: A new approach," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 504-526.
    15. Michael Calegari & Neil L. Fargher, 1997. "Evidence that Prices Do Not Fully Reflect the Implications of Current Earnings for Future Earnings: An Experimental Markets Approach," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(3), pages 397-433, September.
    16. Jacobs, Heiko, 2015. "What explains the dynamics of 100 anomalies?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 65-85.
    17. Lin, Hai & Tao, Xinyuan & Wu, Chunchi, 2022. "Forecasting earnings with combination of analyst forecasts," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 133-159.
    18. Rúben Miguel Torcato Peixinho, 2011. "Are analysts misleading investors? The case of goingconcern opinions," CEFAGE-UE Working Papers 2011_22, University of Evora, CEFAGE-UE (Portugal).
    19. Nawaf Almaskati & Ron Bird & Yue Lu & Danny Leung, 2019. "Corporate Governance, Information Uncertainty and Market Reaction to Information Signals," Working Papers in Economics 19/15, University of Waikato.
    20. Higgins, Huong, 2013. "Can securities analysts forecast intangible firms’ earnings?," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 155-174.
    21. Chen, Linda H. & Jiang, George J. & Zhu, Kevin X., 2018. "Total attention: The effect of macroeconomic news on market reaction to earnings news," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 142-156.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:joares:v:50:y:2012:i:1:p:41-74. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0021-8456 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.