IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/corfin/v89y2024ics0929119924001147.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do buy-side analysts in earnings conference calls manipulate stock prices?

Author

Listed:
  • Hu, Gang
  • Jung, Michael J.
  • Wong, M.H. Franco
  • Yu, Danlei Bonnie
  • Zhang, X. Frank

Abstract

We investigate the generalizability of widely perceived notions that buy-side analysts try to influence or manipulate a firm’s stock price by praising or criticizing management during a public earnings conference call. Despite two institutional factors that make it difficult to detect empirically, we find some evidence of stock influence behavior by using a combination of data on conference call transcripts and trading by the institutions that employ the buy-side analysts. However, we also find evidence consistent with the null hypothesis that buy-side analysts are acquiring information rather than manipulating the stock price. Subsample analyses suggest that stock influence is more detectable among hedge funds, while information acquisition is the norm among traditional buy-and-hold institutions. The evidence we provide on each behavior should be of interest to firm managers who host conference calls, market participants who use conference calls to collect company information, as well as regulators who monitor for possible market manipulation.

Suggested Citation

  • Hu, Gang & Jung, Michael J. & Wong, M.H. Franco & Yu, Danlei Bonnie & Zhang, X. Frank, 2024. "Do buy-side analysts in earnings conference calls manipulate stock prices?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:89:y:2024:i:c:s0929119924001147
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2024.102652
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0929119924001147
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2024.102652?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    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:eee:corfin:v:89:y:2024:i:c:s0929119924001147. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jcorpfin .

    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.