This study addresses three research questions relating to total exclusions, special items, and other exclusions. Are each of these pro forma exclusion components forecasting irrelevant? Are each of the exclusion components value irrelevant? Are the valuation multiples on the exclusion components...

We present a comprehensive analysis of the association between stock returns, quarterly earnings forecast errors, and quarter-ahead and year-ahead earnings forecast revisions. We find that forecast errors and the two forecast revisions have significant effects on stock prices, indicating each...

<heading id="h1" level="3" format="inline" implicit="no">Abstract: </heading>This study uses <link rid="b32">Ohlson's (1995</link> and <link rid="b34">2001</link>) accounting-based equity valuation model to structure tests of four explanations for the anomalously positive pricing of dividends reported by <link rid="b36">Rees (1997)</link> and <link rid="b16">Fama and French (1998)</link>. First, we find that dividends are not simply a proxy for...

The longstanding debate over the proper definition of "earnings"-whether investors when setting stock prices focus primarily on GAAP earnings or other measures like operating cash flow-is both misguided and theoretically unresolvable. The biggest problem faced by investors in evaluating earnings...

We provide evidence that firms with more transparent earnings enjoy a lower cost of capital. We develop an earnings transparency measure that captures cross-sectional and intertemporal variation in the extent to which earnings and change in earnings covary contemporaneously with stock returns....