scholarly journals Financial Analysts’ Understanding of Accounting Matching and Their Earnings Forecast Accuracy

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (8) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Financial Analysts ◽  
Forecast Accuracy ◽  
Earnings Forecast

scholarly journals Earnings Forecast Optimism For U.S. Vs. Non-U.S. Firms

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1491
Author(s):  
David Salerno ◽  
Nathan Jeppson
Keyword(s):  
Task Complexity ◽  
Financial Analysts ◽  
Forecast Accuracy ◽  
Earnings Forecasts ◽  
International Investment ◽  
Growth Potential ◽  
Earnings Forecast ◽  
Level Measurement ◽  
Investment Opportunities

This study examines whether financial analysts are more optimistic in their earnings forecasts for non-U.S. firms than they are for U.S. firms. Several areas of research motivate this examination. First, research shows that global economic influences, such as economic downturns and the desire to increase the international content of portfolios, encourage investors to seek out international investment opportunities in new markets. Second, literature also reveals that emerging markets provide superior growth potential; however, analyzing such firms could introduce task complexity which research finds to be associated with lower forecast accuracy. Finally, research shows that financial analysts cover firms of which they have a favorable opinion. Therefore, because of this literature, it is reasonable to expect that analysts make more optimistic forecasts (over-estimate errors) of the earnings potential of the non-U.S. firms that they choose to follow vs. U.S. firms. Using a summary level measurement of forecast optimism, the authors find that analysts forecasts are more optimistic for non-U.S. firms over both short and long-term horizons. In analyst-level tests, it was found that individual analysts produce more optimistic forecasts for non-U.S. firms in relation to their peers in the long-term; however, that optimism is reduced under short horizons. As portfolios become more internationally diversified, the result of this study will be useful to investors seeking analyst guidance about international investment opportunities.

The informativeness of impression management − financial analysts and rhetorical style of CEO letters

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 462-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beibei Yan ◽  
Walter Aerts ◽  
James Thewissen
Keyword(s):  
Impression Management ◽  
Financial Analysts ◽  
Forecast Accuracy ◽  
Earnings Forecasts ◽  
Earnings Forecast ◽  
Management Communication ◽  
Self Presentation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Rhetorical Features ◽  
Occurrence Patterns

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the informativeness of rhetorical impression management patterns of CEO letters and examines whether these rhetorical features affect financial analysts’ forecasting behaviour. Design/methodology/approach The authors use textual analysis on a sample of 526 CEO letters of US firms and apply factor analysis on individual linguistic style measures to identify co-occurrence patterns of style features. Findings The authors identify three holistic style patterns (assertive acclaiming, cautious plausibility-based framing and logic-based rationalizing) and find that assertive rhetorical feature in CEO letters is negatively related with the dispersion of financial analysts’ earnings forecasts and positively associated with earnings forecast accuracy. CEOs’ use of a rationalizing rhetorical pattern tends to decrease the dispersion of financial analysts’ earnings, whereas a cautious plausibility-based rhetorical position is only marginally instrumental in getting more accurate earnings predictions. Practical implications Whilst impression management communication is often theorized as manipulative and void of real information content, the findings suggest that impression management serves both self-presentation and information-sharing purposes. Originality/value This paper elaborates on the co-occurrence of style characteristics in management communication and is a first attempt to validate the external ramifications of holistic style profiles of corporate narratives by focusing on an economic target audience.

scholarly journals Segment Reporting Level And Analyst Forecast Accuracy

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 471-486
Author(s):  
Kyongsun Heo ◽  
Seoyoung Doo
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Financial Analysts ◽  
Forecast Accuracy ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Earnings Forecast ◽  
Consolidated Financial Statements ◽  
Operating Income ◽  
Segment Disclosure ◽  
Types Of Information ◽  
Segment Information

In a setting where the primary financial statements have been converted from individual financial statements to consolidated financial statements in Korea, we examine the effect of segment information disclosed by the firm on analysts’ consolidated-base earnings forecast accuracy. Since Korean firms have prepared the primary financial statements on a non-consolidated basis in the pre-IFRS regime, the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) leads to a great deal of difficulties and complexities in making accurate consolidated forecasts for users of financial statements, even for financial analysts who are sophisticated users of financial statements. In this situation, we conjecture that the amount of details and types of information in segment disclosure will influence analysts’ forecast accuracy. Consistent with the prediction, we find that financial analysts are able to make more accurate earnings projections when firms provide more disaggregated accounting figures by each segment. Moreover, we find that analysts can make forecasts more accurately when firms disclose more persistent earnings component (i.e., segment operating income). Furthermore, we find that the effect of the segment disclosure levels on analysts’ forecast accuracy is more pronounced for firms with multi-segments. Our results indicate that disaggregated segment information is a useful source for financial analysts to have better understanding about complete picture of firms’ consolidated earnings and improve their forecasting performance.

Coverage Changes and Earnings Forecast Accuracy

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 588-614
Author(s):  
Foong Soon Cheong ◽  
Changhee Lee ◽  
Dan Palmon
Keyword(s):  
Financial Analysts ◽  
Forecast Accuracy ◽  
Earnings Forecast

We examine the effect on earnings forecast accuracy when financial analysts add or drop coverage. We find that the accuracy of analysts’ first forecast for a firm (newly added coverage) is lower relative to their peers. In addition, the accuracy of their last forecast (just before coverage is dropped) is lower relative to their peers. Further analysis shows that our results are not driven by the rookie analysts (analysts with less than 1-year experience) or retiring analysts (i.e., analysts who are within their final year before retiring).

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