In this study we examine the response of equity market participants to a wide variety of significant public announcements. Specifically, we examine total and directional trade patterns across 5 investor groups in the 10 trading days centered on the announcement. We utilize the TORQ database to...

Given the recent controversy over deviations of street earnings from GAAP earnings, we show that the nonrecurring items that analysts include in street earnings are more persistent and have higher valuation multiples than those items they exclude from street earnings. In addition, we find no...

Despite a belief among corporate executives that smooth earnings paths lead to a lower cost of equity capital, I find no relation between earnings smoothness and average stock returns over the last 30 years. In other words, owners of firms with volatile earnings are not compensated with higher...

We examine the relation between analyst coverage and accruals quality. Because accrual accounting requires managers to estimate the future economic consequences of current events, accruals reflect estimation errors and potential managerial opportunism. This may lower accruals quality and provide...

Using a large sample of quarterly observations for the 16 years, 1984-99, I present four types of related temporal evidence: (1) a decrease in the tendency of managers to report quarterly earnings that fall slightly short of analyst estimates [small negative surprises of no more than three...

We investigate whether analysts' common-stock valuation judgments are predictably affected by (1) different methods of accounting for business combinations and (2) the number of years that elapse after the business combinations occur. Numerous articles in the business press suggest that...

We investigate whether the direction and magnitude of earnings management by a firm is affected by analysts' current perception of its equity investment potential (i.e., its perceived ability to generate positive abnormal returns). We argue that firms whose investment potential is perceived to...

We provide evidence that analysts' stock-price judgments depend on (1) the method of accounting for a business combination, and (2) the number of years that have elapsed since the business combination. Consistent with business-press reports of managers' concerns, analysts' stock-price judgments...

We investigate whether clear disclosure of comprehensive income (CI) facilitates detection of earnings management by buy-side financial analysts and predictably affects their security price judgments. Because analysts and investors often must sort through voluminous footnotes and non-financial...

This study explores the market response to achieving analyst earnings expectations, distinguishing between expectations achieved through earnings forecast guidance and earnings management. We consider three earnings management tools: real earnings management, working capital accruals management,...