We exploit a novel feature of management cash flow forecasts (MCFFs) to investigate how managers' discretion over forecast precision, clarity, and verifiability affects the bias, quality, and stock price effects of such forecasts. Many MCFFs are issued with an equivocal definition of the cash...

We examine analysts' GAAP earnings forecasts and illustrate their usefulness in two prominent research settings. First, we find that the availability of GAAP forecasts has increased dramatically since 2003, and they are now available for most I/B/E/S-covered firms. Next, we utilize GAAP...

We find that individual analysts following the same firm and quarter forecast different underlying street performance metrics. Relative to analysts whose street forecast is based on generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), analysts who forecast street earnings using a non-GAAP...

We contribute to the debate about the relative benefits and costs of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption by examining whether earnings persistence and the association between current accounting earnings and future cash flows differ for firms reporting under IFRS versus...

SEC rules require managers to reconcile their non-GAAP forecasts with the most directly comparable GAAP measure unless doing so would entail ‘unreasonable effort'. A significant and growing number of managers invoke the unreasonable efforts exception to justify the omission of comparable GAAP...

This study investigates changes in foreign analyst behavior before and after Chinese New Accounting Standards was implemented during 2007. The empirical results show that after the new accounting standards were implemented, forecast error among foreign analysts decreased in both absolute and...

This paper empirically tests whether the various SFAS No. 109 reporting and disclosure requirements provide information that is consistent with the FASB's Conceptual Framework. To address this question, we examine whether information required by SFAS No. 109 provides any incremental ability to...

Using a sample from 22 countries, I investigate the relations between the accuracy of analysts' earnings forecasts and the level of annual report disclosure; and between forecast accuracy and the degree of enforcement of accounting standards. I document that firm-level disclosures are positively...

In today's uncertain financial climate it is particularly important for entities to explain their financial performance relative to their expectations. Therefore, the paper analyzes the quality and quantity of management reporting in Germany's publicly traded MDAX and SDAX companies using a...

Prior studies identify several motives for why firms release management earnings forecasts (MFs). A common feature of such studies is they pool MFs when drawing inferences about a specific motive. By ignoring the heterogeneous rationales managers have to issue MFs, pooling could lead to biased...