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Increased market response to earnings announcements in the 21st century: An Empirical Investigation

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  • Beaver, William H.
  • McNichols, Maureen F.
  • Wang, Zach Z.

Abstract

We examine the role of concurrent information in the striking increase in investor response to earnings announcements from 2001 to 2016, as measured by return variability and volume following Beaver (1968). We find management guidance, analyst forecasts, and disaggregated financial statement line items are more frequently bundled with earnings announcements, and each of these items explains part of the increase in market response. Furthermore, collectively, these concurrent information releases explain a substantial fraction of the increase in market response to earnings announcements since 2001. This is in contrast to the decline in market response to management guidance issued separately from earnings and the much smaller increase in market response to analyst forecasts issued separately from earnings over this time. The findings indicate that information arrival at earnings announcement dates has increased significantly over the past two decades, and that key components of this are increased disclosures by management of guidance and financial statement line items and forecasts by analysts.

Suggested Citation

  • Beaver, William H. & McNichols, Maureen F. & Wang, Zach Z., 2020. "Increased market response to earnings announcements in the 21st century: An Empirical Investigation," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jaecon:v:69:y:2020:i:1:s0165410119300394
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jacceco.2019.101244
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Ball, Ray & Nikolaev, Valeri V., 2022. "On earnings and cash flows as predictors of future cash flows," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1).
    3. Stephen Taylor & Alex Tong, 2023. "How important are semi‐annual earnings announcements? An information event perspective," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(3), pages 3585-3607, September.
    4. Stolowy, Hervé & Paugam, Luc & Gendron, Yves, 2022. "Competing for narrative authority in capital markets: Activist short sellers vs. financial analysts," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    5. Tsang, Albert & Xiang, Yi & Yu, Li, 2023. "Cross-border regulatory cooperation and analyst forecasts," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    6. Neururer, Thaddeus, 2022. "Meet-or-beat streak heterogeneity and equity prices," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 455-470.
    7. Altendorfer, Andreas, 2024. "Evidence on the incremental information content of concurrent financial and non-financial corporate disclosures," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    8. Das, Somnath & King, Alexander Z., 2021. "Measuring the informativeness of earnings announcements: The role of event windows," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 350-367.
    9. Thompson, Anne M., 2022. "Political connections and the SEC confidential treatment process," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1).
    10. Qazi Ghulam Mustafa Qureshi & Yves Mard & François Aubert, 2022. "Effects of earnings management on firms' marketadjusted return," Post-Print hal-04266643, HAL.
    11. Ping‐Wen Sun & Zipeng Wen, 2023. "Stock return predictability of the cumulative abnormal returns around the earnings announcement date: Evidence from China," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 23(1), pages 58-86, March.
    12. Choi, Bong-Geun & Choi, Jung Ho & Malik, Sara, 2023. "Not just for investors: The role of earnings announcements in guiding job seekers," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(1).
    13. Oliver Binz & John R. Graham, 2022. "The Information Content of Corporate Earnings: Evidence from the Securities Exchange Act of 1934," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(4), pages 1379-1418, September.
    14. Nicholas M. Guest, 2021. "The Information Role of the Media in Earnings News," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(3), pages 1021-1076, June.
    15. Martineau, Charles, 2021. "Rest in Peace Post-Earnings Announcement Drift," SocArXiv z7k3p, Center for Open Science.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Capital markets; Earnings announcements; Financial statements; Return volatility; Management guidance; Analyst forecasts;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G29 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Other
    • M40 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - General
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

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