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Chinese Journal of Management Science ›› 2025, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (3): 34-44.doi: 10.16381/j.cnki.issn1003-207x.2022.0771

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How Forward-looking Statements in Earnings Communication Conference Affect Analysts Forecast Accuracy? ——Falsehood or Foretell

Shuai Xu1, Shuai Shao2(), Xianjie He1   

  1. 1.School of Accountancy,Shanghai University of Finance and Economics,Shanghai 200433,China
    2.School of Management,Zhejiang University,Hangzhou 310030,China
  • Received:2022-04-13 Revised:2022-10-22 Online:2025-03-25 Published:2025-04-07
  • Contact: Shuai Shao E-mail:shuaishao@zju.edu.cn

Abstract:

Earnings communication conferences are important platforms for communication between listed companies and minority investors in China. In fact, due to the anonymity and low threshold nature of earnings communication conferences, their participants include not only minority investors but also analysts, potential investors, competitors, etc. Because management cannot anticipate the participants’ questions in advance, more “hard information” and “soft information” may be inadvertently delivered. Whether analysts, who are important information intermediaries in capital markets, draw on forward-looking statements (hereafter FLS) in earnings communication conferences when collecting, analyzing, and producing information, how these FLS influence analysts’ earnings forecasts, and which kind of FLS is more useful are the questions explored in this paper.Using textual information from 2007 to 2020, it is found that firms with more FLS disclosed in Earnings Communication Conference have more accurate analysts forecast afterwards. Experienced analysts benefit more from using FLS due to better information processing capability and easier access to resources. Forward-looking statements assist analysts in making more accurate forecasts when information asymmetry is more severe. Then a possible explanation is presented. With more FLS disclosed by the firm, sell-side analysts and institutional investors may increase their corporate visits to verify the information acquired. In this way, analysts forecast accuracy is improved. Furthermore, it is also found that performance related FLS are more likely to improve analysts forecast accuracy, due to higher credibility and direct relation with earnings.

Key words: earnings communication conference, forward-looking statements, analyst earnings forecast, textual analysis

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