Using a value-weighted rather than an equally weighted regression, Easton and Sommers (2007) show that the upward bias in the risk premium implied by analysts' earnings forecasts falls to 1.6%, but remains statistically and economically significant. In this paper, we argue that any estimation of...

We evaluate the influence of measurement error in analysts' forecasts on the accuracy of implied cost of capital estimates from various implementations of the ‘implied cost of capital' approach, and develop corrections for the measurement error. We document predictable error in the implied...

To value shares there are two usual methods that, if properly applied, provide the same value: 1/ Present value of expected free cash flows (FCF) discounted with the WACC rate and then, subtract the value of debt; and 2/ Present value of expected equity cash flows (ECF) discounted with the Ke...

This study presents evidence suggesting that investors do not fully unravel predictable pessimism in sell-side analysts' earnings forecasts. We show that measures of prior consensus and individual analyst forecast pessimism are predictive of both the sign of firms' earnings surprises and the...

This study proposes and tests an alternative to the extant earnings management explanation for zero and small positive earnings surprises (i.e., analyst forecast errors). We argue that analysts' ability to strategically induce slight pessimism in earnings forecasts varies with the precision of...

In this paper, we examine analyst annual earnings forecast accuracy and dispersion for firms undertaking SEOs. Specifically, we evaluate the difference in accuracy between new and old affiliate analysts when there is a change in the lead underwriter for the SEO. We also study the change of...

We test the performance of two ESG score-driven quantitative signals on a large, multi-national crosssection of European stock returns. In particular, we ask whether in the cross-section, the cost of equity capital is more strongly affected by the (upward) “slope” (identified as momentum...

Quarterly earnings conference calls are becoming a more pervasive tool for corporate disclosure. However, the extent to which the market embeds information contained in the tone (i.e. sentiment) of conference call wording is unknown. Using computer aided content analysis, we examine the...

Recent research finds that investors, broadly defined, react to the linguistic tone of quarterly earnings conference calls; there is a positive relation between firms' stock returns and call tone (a measure of “sentiment” related word tabulations). However, this type of soft information can...