IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/pacfin/v84y2024ics0927538x24000349.html

From fundamental signals to stock volatility: A machine learning approach

Author

Listed:
  • Liao, Cunfei
  • Ma, Tian

Abstract

Enriched with a large set of accounting-based characteristics, we find that the aggregate fundamental risk, constructed with several machine learning algorithms, predicts stock return volatility. We find that nonlinear models, especially neural networks, outperform linear methods and single characteristics and attribute the improvements in prediction accuracy to their ability to capture nonlinear patterns. All approaches concur that profitability-related characteristics are the dominant predictive indicators. In addition, volatility-managed market portfolios through machine learning improve economic profits. Our study contributes to the body of knowledge on risk management in emerging markets in the age of big data.

Suggested Citation

  • Liao, Cunfei & Ma, Tian, 2024. "From fundamental signals to stock volatility: A machine learning approach," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pacfin:v:84:y:2024:i:c:s0927538x24000349
    DOI: 10.1016/j.pacfin.2024.102283
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927538X24000349
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.pacfin.2024.102283?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fama, Eugene F & French, Kenneth R, 1992. "The Cross-Section of Expected Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(2), pages 427-465, June.
    2. Asger Lunde & Peter R. Hansen, 2005. "A forecast comparison of volatility models: does anything beat a GARCH(1,1)?," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(7), pages 873-889.
    3. Stefano Giglio & Bryan Kelly & Dacheng Xiu, 2022. "Factor Models, Machine Learning, and Asset Pricing," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 14(1), pages 337-368, November.
    4. Piotroski, JD, 2000. "Value investing: The use of historical financial statement information to separate winners from losers," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38, pages 1-41.
    5. Jun Zhang & Lan Li & Wei Chen, 2021. "Predicting Stock Price Using Two-Stage Machine Learning Techniques," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 57(4), pages 1237-1261, April.
    6. Shihao Gu & Bryan Kelly & Dacheng Xiu, 2020. "Empirical Asset Pricing via Machine Learning," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 33(5), pages 2223-2273.
    7. Leippold, Markus & Wang, Qian & Zhou, Wenyu, 2022. "Machine learning in the Chinese stock market," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(2), pages 64-82.
    8. Lu Zhang, 2005. "The Value Premium," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(1), pages 67-103, February.
    9. Kewei Hou & Chen Xue & Lu Zhang, 2015. "Editor's Choice Digesting Anomalies: An Investment Approach," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(3), pages 650-705.
    10. Damir Filipović & Amir Khalilzadeh, 2021. "Machine Learning for Predicting Stock Return Volatility," Swiss Finance Institute Research Paper Series 21-95, Swiss Finance Institute.
    11. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 2015. "A five-factor asset pricing model," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(1), pages 1-22.
    12. Jeffrey L. Callen, 2009. "Shocks to Shocks: A Theoretical Foundation for the Information Content of Earnings," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(1), pages 135-166, March.
    13. Kewei Hou & Chen Xue & Lu Zhang, 2020. "Replicating Anomalies," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(5), pages 2019-2133.
    14. Spyridon D. Vrontos & John Galakis & Ioannis D. Vrontos, 2021. "Implied volatility directional forecasting: a machine learning approach," Quantitative Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(10), pages 1687-1706, October.
    15. Malcolm Baker & Jeffrey Wurgler, 2006. "Investor Sentiment and the Cross‐Section of Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(4), pages 1645-1680, August.
    16. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:4:p:1481-1509 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Gharbi, Sami & Sahut, Jean-Michel & Teulon, Frédéric, 2014. "R&D investments and high-tech firms' stock return volatility," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 306-312.
    18. Evgeny Lyandres & Le Sun & Lu Zhang, 2008. "The New Issues Puzzle: Testing the Investment-Based Explanation," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 21(6), pages 2825-2855, November.
    19. Diebold, Francis X & Mariano, Roberto S, 2002. "Comparing Predictive Accuracy," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 20(1), pages 134-144, January.
    20. Robert F. Engle & Eric Ghysels & Bumjean Sohn, 2013. "Stock Market Volatility and Macroeconomic Fundamentals," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(3), pages 776-797, July.
    21. repec:bla:jfinan:v:44:y:1989:i:5:p:1115-53 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Clark, Todd E. & West, Kenneth D., 2007. "Approximately normal tests for equal predictive accuracy in nested models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 138(1), pages 291-311, May.
    23. Jeremiah Green & John R. M. Hand & X. Frank Zhang, 2017. "The Characteristics that Provide Independent Information about Average U.S. Monthly Stock Returns," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(12), pages 4389-4436.
    24. Chen, Ding & Guo, Biao & Zhou, Guofu, 2023. "Firm fundamentals and the cross-section of implied volatility shapes," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    25. Alan Moreira & Tyler Muir, 2017. "Volatility-Managed Portfolios," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 72(4), pages 1611-1644, August.
    26. Kim Christensen & Mathias Siggaard & Bezirgen Veliyev, 2023. "A Machine Learning Approach to Volatility Forecasting," Journal of Financial Econometrics, Oxford University Press, vol. 21(5), pages 1680-1727.
    27. Veronesi, Pietro, 1999. "Stock Market Overreaction to Bad News in Good Times: A Rational Expectations Equilibrium Model," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 12(5), pages 975-1007.
    28. Kent Daniel & Sheridan Titman, 2006. "Market Reactions to Tangible and Intangible Information," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(4), pages 1605-1643, August.
    29. Eden, Benjamin & Jovanovic, Boyan, 1994. "Asymmetric Information and the Excess Volatility of Stock Prices," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 32(2), pages 228-235, April.
    30. Liao, Cunfei & Luo, Qianlin & Tang, Guohao, 2021. "Aggregate liquidity premium and cross-sectional returns: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    31. Shihao Gu & Bryan Kelly & Dacheng Xiu, 2020. "Empirical Asset Pricing via Machine Learning," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(5), pages 2223-2273.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Cheng, Zijian & Li, Tianze & Liu, Zhangxin (Frank), 2025. "Unveiling the veil: Identifying potential shell firms using machine learning approaches," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jiang, Fuwei & Ma, Tian & Zhu, Feifei, 2024. "Fundamental characteristics, machine learning, and stock price crash risk," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    2. Doron Avramov & Guy Kaplanski & Avanidhar Subrahmanyam, 2022. "Postfundamentals Price Drift in Capital Markets: A Regression Regularization Perspective," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(10), pages 7658-7681, October.
    3. Sak, Halis & Huang, Tao & Chng, Michael T., 2024. "Exploring the factor zoo with a machine-learning portfolio," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA).
    4. Tran, Vu Le, 2023. "Sentiment and covariance characteristics," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    5. Hanauer, Matthias X. & Kalsbach, Tobias, 2023. "Machine learning and the cross-section of emerging market stock returns," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    6. Byun, Jun Young & Na, Yosep & Song, Jae Wook, 2026. "From vision to value: Stock chart image-driven factors and their pricing power," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    7. Christian Fieberg & Gerrit Liedtke & Thorsten Poddig, 2025. "Recurrent double-conditional factor model," OR Spectrum: Quantitative Approaches in Management, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research e.V., vol. 47(1), pages 205-254, March.
    8. Cederburg, Scott & O’Doherty, Michael S. & Wang, Feifei & Yan, Xuemin (Sterling), 2020. "On the performance of volatility-managed portfolios," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(1), pages 95-117.
    9. Cong Wang, 2024. "Stock return prediction with multiple measures using neural network models," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 10(1), pages 1-34, December.
    10. repec:cam:camjip:2506 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Han, Yufeng & Lu, Yueliang (Jacques) & Xu, Weike & Zhou, Guofu, 2024. "Mispricing and Anomalies: An Exogenous Shock to Short Selling from JGTRRA," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    12. Cakici, Nusret & Fieberg, Christian & Metko, Daniel & Zaremba, Adam, 2023. "Machine learning goes global: Cross-sectional return predictability in international stock markets," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    13. Tobek, Ondrej & Hronec, Martin, 2021. "Does it pay to follow anomalies research? Machine learning approach with international evidence," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    14. Pan, Shuiyang & Long, Suwan(Cheng) & Wang, Yiming & Xie, Ying, 2023. "Nonlinear asset pricing in Chinese stock market: A deep learning approach," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    15. De Nard, Gianluca & Zhao, Zhao, 2022. "A large-dimensional test for cross-sectional anomalies:Efficient sorting revisited," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 654-676.
    16. Donggyu Kim & Minseok Shin, 2024. "Nonconvex High-Dimensional Time-Varying Coefficient Estimation for Noisy High-Frequency Observations with a Factor Structure," Working Papers 202418, University of California at Riverside, Department of Economics.
    17. Nusret Cakici & Christian Fieberg & Daniel Metko & Adam Zaremba, 2024. "Do Anomalies Really Predict Market Returns? New Data and New Evidence," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 28(1), pages 1-44.
    18. Bui, Dien Giau & Kong, De-Rong & Lin, Chih-Yung & Lin, Tse-Chun, 2023. "Momentum in machine learning: Evidence from the Taiwan stock market," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    19. Bryzgalova, Svetlana & Huang, Jiantao & Julliard, Christian, 2023. "Bayesian solutions for the factor zoo: we just ran two quadrillion models," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 126151, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    20. Vitor Azevedo & Georg Sebastian Kaiser & Sebastian Mueller, 2023. "Stock market anomalies and machine learning across the globe," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 24(5), pages 419-441, September.
    21. Fieberg, Christian & Liedtke, Gerrit & Zaremba, Adam & Cakici, Nusret, 2025. "A factor model for the cross-section of country equity risk premia," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • G10 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • C13 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Estimation: General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:pacfin:v:84:y:2024:i:c:s0927538x24000349. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/pacfin .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.