Differential Interpretations and Earnings Quality

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed M. Abdel-Meguid ◽  
Guy D. Fernando ◽  
Richard A. Schneible ◽  
SangHyun Suh

SYNOPSIS We investigate the association between earnings quality and investor disagreement regarding the valuation consequences of earnings announcements. A primary purpose of financial reporting, including periodic earnings releases, is to convey useful information to investors. However, earnings may be of low quality due to an inherent failure in the accounting process to accurately represent the economic entity, unintentional errors, or intentional manipulation on the part of management. We argue that low-quality earnings will be associated with more divergent opinions regarding the implication of the earnings signal (i.e., differential interpretations) and, thus, be reflected in their trading activity. We use two abnormal accrual measures and an earnings persistence measure as proxies for earnings quality. We proxy for differential interpretations using abnormal trading volume unrelated to returns and analyst forecast jumbling. Our results show that low earnings quality is associated with more differential interpretations of earnings announcements measures.

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 365-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas D’Angelo ◽  
Samir El-Gazzar ◽  
Rudolph A. Jacob

Purpose This paper aims to examine the characteristics of firms that voluntary disclose generally accepted accounting principals (GAAP)-compliant statements of income, statement of cash flows (SCF) and balance sheet (BS) concurrently with quarterly earnings releases. Cardinal motivation of the paper stems from the increasing demand over the past decade by professional analysts and the Securities and Exchange Commission for concurrent disclosure of GAAP-compliant financial statements with earnings’ announcements. Design/methodology/approach Using hand-collected archival data, a random sample was identified as disclosing GAAP-compliant SCF and BS with their quarterly earnings releases compared to a control sample identified as non-GAAP-compliant disclosing firms during the 36-month period of 2009-2011, and several hypotheses are tested to determine managements’ incentives to disclose GAAP-compliant versus non-GAAP financials with their earnings releases. Findings The results in this paper suggest that debt financing, corporate governance, operating performance, earnings volatility, industry membership (such as technology and more research and development-intensive) and complexity of operations (number of segments) are significant characteristics of firms electing to concurrently disclose GAAP-compliant SCF and BS with earnings releases. Practical implications The findings discussed in this paper are of special interest to financial reporting policymakers, financial analysts, firm managers and stakeholders and academics. Originality/value The voluntary disclosure literature on quarterly earnings releases is extended by differentiating between GAAP-compliant and non-GAAP-compliant voluntary disclosers. The specific findings of this study may provide valuable input to policymakers as they study prevailing voluntary disclosure rules and practices.


Author(s):  
Gospel J. Chukwu ◽  
Hwerien Rosemary Idamoyibo ◽  
Monday M. Akunna

The purpose of this study is to examine whether provision for environmental liability is associated with earnings persistence of oil firms in Nigeria. The study also examines whether changes in provision for environmental liability is associated with earnings quality. Data from four oil firms for the period 2012 to 2018 were analysed using ordinary least square regression with robust standard errors. Two hypotheses formulated for the study were tested by regressing future earnings on current earnings and other variables. Results showed that environmental liability provisions were not significantly related to earnings persistence. Changes in these provisions were also insignificantly related to earnings quality. The evidence supports institutional theory as basis for explaining the relationship between environmental liability provisions and earnings quality in Nigeria; indicating that the relationship is not driven by ethical considerations or stakeholder concern. There is need for a legal framework for environmental financial reporting in Nigeria to ensure that the environmental obligations of all polluting firms are adequately accounted for, and earnings numbers are ethically reported.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul Qoyum ◽  
Milzamulhaq Mardiya ◽  
Muhammad Rizky Prima Sakti

Capital market efficiency is one of the most important part in finance theory, in which assume the price of stock will fully reflect the information available in the market, hence the price will adjust directly and quickly. The objective of this study is to evaluate the efficiency of both Islamic and conventional stock markets, particularly in case of Indonesia. Event study of King Salman Visit in Indonesia was used as testing periods. Abnormal return and average abnormal trading volume activity of 30 companies listed in Jakarta Islamic Index (JII) to represent Islamic capital market and 17 companies listed in LQ45 to represent conventional capital market were employed to explain this issue. The result shows that from abnormal return perspectives both Islamic and conventional capital market are efficient. While from abnormal trading volume activities, shows that during the visit of King Salman, the trading activity in Islamic capital market is increased significantly rather than conventional counterpart. Keywords: Islamic capital market, capital market efficiency, abnormal return and abnormal trading volume activity 


1997 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeong-Bon Kim ◽  
Itzhak Krinsky ◽  
Jason Lee

This paper empirically examines the incremental relation between trading volume surrounding quarterly earnings announcements and institutional holdings. Consistent with Cready (1988) and Lee (1992), we find a significant positive relation between abnormal trading volume and the fraction of institutional ownership during the period immediately following an earnings announcement, after controlling for the magnitude of the associated price reaction and the dispersion of analysts' EPS forecasts. The results are robust to various measures of abnormal trading volume. Our findings suggest that newly released information does not necessarily have the same value to heterogeneous investor types and support Lev's (1988) emphasis on the importance of focusing on investor classes.


2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 631-666 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharad C. Asthana ◽  
K. K. Raman ◽  
Hongkang Xu

SYNOPSIS We examine why U.S.-listed foreign companies choose to have a U.S.-based (rather than home country-based) Big N firm as their principal auditor for SEC reporting purposes and the effects of that choice for audit fees and earnings quality. We find that the likelihood of the Big N principal auditor being U.S.-based is decreasing in client size and the level of investor protection in the home country, and increasing in the proportion of income earned outside the home country. We also find compelling evidence that U.S.-based Big N auditors are associated with higher-quality earnings (albeit for a higher fee), despite two factors—the greater distance between the U.S.-based (vis-à-vis home country-based) Big N auditor and the client, and the likelihood that much of the audit work is done outside the U.S.—which potentially could lower the earnings quality of the U.S.-listed foreign client when the Big N principal auditor is U.S.-based. Overall, our study suggests that the higher fees associated with a U.S.-based Big N principal auditor is not just price protection; rather, U.S.-based Big N principal auditors are also improving the financial reporting environment by reporting higher-quality audited earnings for their U.S.-listed foreign clients. JEL Classifications: L11; L15; M42.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-82
Author(s):  
Sravani Bharandev ◽  
Sapar Narayan Rao

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test the disposition effect at market level and propose an appropriate reference point for testing disposition at market level. Design/methodology/approach This is an empirical study conducted on 500 index stocks of NSE500 (National Stock Exchange). Winning and losing days for each stock are calculated using 52-week high and low prices as reference points. To test disposition effect, abnormal trading volumes of stocks are regressed on their percentage of winning (losing) days. Further using ANOVA, the difference between mean of percentage of winning (losing) days of high abnormal trading volume deciles and low abnormal trading volume deciles is tested. Findings Results show that a stock’s abnormal trading volume is positively influenced by the percentage of winning days whereas percentage of losing days show no such effect. Findings are consistent even after controlling for volatility and liquidity. ANOVA results show the presence of high percentage of winning days in higher deciles of abnormal trading volumes and no such pattern in case of losing days confirms the presence of disposition effect. Further an ex post analysis indicates that disposition prone investors accumulate losses. Originality/value This is the first study, which proposes the use of 52-week high and low prices as reference points to test the market-level disposition effect. Findings of this study enhance the limited literature available on disposition effect in emerging markets by providing evidence from Indian stock markets.


2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (73) ◽  
pp. 113-131
Author(s):  
Roberto Black ◽  
Sílvio Hiroshi Nakao

ABSTRACT This paper aims to investigate the existence of heterogeneity in earnings quality between different classes of companies after the adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). IFRS adoption is generally associated with an increase in the quality of financial statements. However, companies within the same country are likely to have different economic incentives regarding the disclosure of information. Thus, treating companies equally, without considering the related economic incentives, could contaminate earnings quality investigations. The case of Brazil is analyzed, which is a country classified as code-law, in which tax laws determined accounting practice and in which IFRS adoption is mandatory. First, Brazilian companies listed on the São Paulo Stock, Commodities, and Futures Exchange (BM&FBOVESPA) were separated into two classes: companies issuing American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) before IFRS adoption and companies that did not issue ADRs until the adoption of IFRS. Then, this second class of companies was grouped, using cluster analysis, into two different subclasses according to economic incentives. Based on the groups identified, the quality of accounting earnings is tested for each class of the companies before and after IFRS adoption. This paper uses timely recognition of economic events, value relevance of net income, and earnings management as proxies for the quality of accounting earnings. The results indicate that a particular class of companies began showing conditional conservatism, value relevance of net income, and lower earnings management after IFRS adoption. On the other hand, these results were not found for the two other classes of companies.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document