Analyst Pessimism and Forecast Timing

Information Uncertainty and Analyst Forecast Behavior*

Prior literature observes that information uncertainty exacerbates investor underreaction behavior. In this paper, I investigate whether, as professional investment intermediaries, sellside analysts suffer more behavioral biases in cases of greater information uncertainty. I show that greater information uncertainty predicts more positive (negative) forecast errors and subsequent forecast revis...

Analyst Forecast Dispersion and Aggregate Stock Returns

This paper shows a positive relation between analyst forecast dispersion and future aggregate stock returns, significant and robust. The innovations in forecast dispersions are negatively associated with contemporaneous aggregate returns and changes in discount rates. Decomposing forecast dispersion into “uncertainty” and “information asymmetry” components, I find that the “uncertainty” compone...

Organizational Structure , Tax Havens , Analyst Forecast Properties and Information Environment

Management Earnings Forecasts and Value of Analyst Forecast Revisions

Prior studies evaluate the relative importance of the sources of value that financial analysts bring to the market based on the price impact of forecast revisions over the event time. We find that management earnings forecasts influence the timing and precision of analyst forecasts. More importantly, evidence suggests that prior studies’ finding of weaker (stronger) stock-price responses to for...

Analyst Earnings Forecast Trends in Pacific Rim Countries

This study analyzes trends in analyst forecast properties from 1987 through 1998 in the United States and seven Pacific Rim countries: Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand. Analyst forecast properties in the United States have become less dispersed, more accurate, and less optimistic during the sample period. Similar trends exist in Australia and New Zeala...