We show that abnormal returns to analysts' recommendations stem from both the ratings levels assigned as well as the changes in those ratings. Conditional on the ratings change, buy and strong buy recommendations have greater returns than do holds, sells, and strong sells. Conditional on the...

This paper presents evidence of persistent anomalies in internet firms' stock returns surrounding their quarterly earnings announcements. There is a general run-up in prices in the days prior to the earnings announcement, which extends through the market opening on the day subsequent to the...

In light of the importance of revenues in the valuation of internet stocks, this paper examines the roles played by analysts, past revenues, and web usage data (unique visitors, pageviews, and minutes spent at a firm's web sites) in the forecasting of future revenues. In contrast to evidence...

In this paper we provide insights into the manner in which (relatively sparse) accounting information, along with measures of internet usage, are employed by the market in the valuation of internet firms. Consistent with those who claim that financial statement information is of very limited use...

We explore the possibility that overnight returns can serve as a measure of firm-specific investor sentiment by analyzing whether they exhibit characteristics expected of a sentiment measure. First, we document short-term persistence in overnight returns, consistent with existing evidence of...

In this paper we document that the earnings forecasts of security analysts who share a first name with the CEO of a covered firm (referred to as ‘matched' analysts) are more accurate, on average, than those of analysts who do not share a first name (referred to as ‘unmatched' analysts). This...

An important element of a firm's disclosure strategy is the timing of its mandatory public announcements. In this paper, two aspects of disclosure timing are examined. The first is the intraday timing of earnings announcements. It is demonstrated here that, under reasonable conditions, market...