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Earnings Quality and the Pricing Effects of Earnings Patterns
Earnings Patterns and Earnings Quality
Previous research on pricing effects of earnings patterns has considered increasing earnings, earnings that meet or exceed analyst forecasts, and smooth earnings. The research is motivated by the observation that managers appear to focus on maintaining such patterns. We build on this observation by exploring the notion that managers’ accruals choices either reinforce or undercut the pricing effects of earnings patterns. In this section, we describe previous research (section ), discuss why the three earnings patterns we consider might be economically distinct, as opposed to manifestations of a single underlying construct (section ), and discuss the links between earnings patterns and earnings quality (section ).
1、Previous research on pricing effects of earnings patterns
Beginning with the observation that many managers appear to strive to report steadily increasing earnings, Barth, Elliott and Finn [1999] document rewards to such behavior: firms with increasing earnings have higher price-earnings multiples than other firms, after controlling for growth and risk. The control for growth is based on both increases in book value of equity and analyst earnings growth forecasts, and the control for risk is the variance of the most recent six years’ percentage earnings changes. They attempt to rule out the possibility that firms with long patterns of increasing earnings also share a valuation relevant factor that is known before the earnings pattern develops; results are mixed although the authors conclude that the weight of the evidence does not support the existence of such a factor. Barth et al. do not consider whether the quality of earnings might affect their results, although they note that if earnings increases are obtained via earnings management which investors discern and discount, their tests will be biased against finding pricing effects as