IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/jforec/v43y2024i5p1530-1558.html

Robust approach to earnings forecast: A comparison

Author

Listed:
  • Xiaojian Yu
  • Xiaoqian Zhang
  • Donald Lien

Abstract

This paper applies three robust approaches, namely, the MM estimation, the Theil–Sen estimation, and the quantile regression, to generate earnings forecasts in Chinese financial market and evaluates the forecast accuracy of these three methods based on three forecasting criteria. We examine six forecasting models where the predicted variables include earnings per share, net income, and three profitability measures. We show that the three robust methods significantly outperform the OLS method. Moreover, the MM estimation and the quantile regression have better forecast accuracy than the Theil–Sen approach.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaojian Yu & Xiaoqian Zhang & Donald Lien, 2024. "Robust approach to earnings forecast: A comparison," Journal of Forecasting, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(5), pages 1530-1558, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:jforec:v:43:y:2024:i:5:p:1530-1558
    DOI: 10.1002/for.3085
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/for.3085
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/for.3085?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brown, Lawrence D., 1993. "Earnings forecasting research: its implications for capital markets research," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 295-320, November.
    2. Patricia M. Fairfield & Sundaresh Ramnath & Teri Lombardi Yohn, 2009. "Do Industry‐Level Analyses Improve Forecasts of Financial Performance?," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 47(1), pages 147-178, March.
    3. So, Eric C., 2013. "A new approach to predicting analyst forecast errors: Do investors overweight analyst forecasts?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(3), pages 615-640.
    4. Harrison Hong & Jeffrey D. Kubik & Amit Solomon, 2000. "Security Analysts' Career Concerns and Herding of Earnings Forecasts," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 31(1), pages 121-144, Spring.
    5. Harrison Hong & Jeffrey D. Kubik, 2003. "Analyzing the Analysts: Career Concerns and Biased Earnings Forecasts," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(1), pages 313-351, February.
    6. Koenker, Roger W & Bassett, Gilbert, Jr, 1978. "Regression Quantiles," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 46(1), pages 33-50, January.
    7. Hou, Kewei & van Dijk, Mathijs A. & Zhang, Yinglei, 2012. "The implied cost of capital: A new approach," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 504-526.
    8. Brown, Lawrence D., 1993. "Reply to commentaries on "Earnings forecasting research: its implications for capital markets research"," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 343-344, November.
    9. Xia, Hui & Min, Xinyu & Deng, Shijie, 2015. "Effectiveness of earnings forecasts in efficient global portfolio construction," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 568-574.
    10. Wu, Joanna Shuang & Zang, Amy Y., 2009. "What determine financial analysts' career outcomes during mergers?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1-2), pages 59-86, March.
    11. 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.
    12. Loh, Roger K. & Mian, G. Mujtaba, 2006. "Do accurate earnings forecasts facilitate superior investment recommendations?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 455-483, May.
    13. Qu, Li, 2021. "A new approach to estimating earnings forecasting models: Robust regression MM-estimation," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 1011-1030.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Alexander P. Paton & Damien Cannavan & Stephen Gray & Khoa Hoang, 2020. "Analyst versus model‐based earnings forecasts: implied cost of capital applications," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(4), pages 4061-4092, December.
    2. Lin, Hai & Tao, Xinyuan & Wu, Chunchi, 2022. "Forecasting earnings with combination of analyst forecasts," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 133-159.
    3. Ferreira Savoia, José Roberto & Securato, José Roberto & Bergmann, Daniel Reed & Lopes da Silva, Fabiana, 2019. "Comparing results of the implied cost of capital and capital asset pricing models for infrastructure firms in Brazil," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 149-158.
    4. Andrew C. Call & Shuping Chen & Yen H. Tong, 2009. "Are analysts’ earnings forecasts more accurate when accompanied by cash flow forecasts?," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 358-391, September.
    5. Ramnath, Sundaresh & Rock, Steve & Shane, Philip, 2008. "The financial analyst forecasting literature: A taxonomy with suggestions for further research," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 34-75.
    6. Wai Fong Chua & Yu Flora Kuang & Yi (Ava) Wu, 2024. "The Effect of Organizational Climate on Sell‐side Analyst Turnover and Performance," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 60(1), pages 49-90, March.
    7. Beyer, Anne & Cohen, Daniel A. & Lys, Thomas Z. & Walther, Beverly R., 2010. "The financial reporting environment: Review of the recent literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 296-343, December.
    8. Higgins, Huong, 2013. "Can securities analysts forecast intangible firms’ earnings?," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 155-174.
    9. Huang, Allen H. & Lin, An-Ping & Zang, Amy Y., 2022. "Cross-industry information sharing among colleagues and analyst research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1).
    10. Kim, Yongtae & Lobo, Gerald J. & Song, Minsup, 2011. "Analyst characteristics, timing of forecast revisions, and analyst forecasting ability," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 2158-2168, August.
    11. Harris, Richard D.F. & Wang, Pengguo, 2019. "Model-based earnings forecasts vs. financial analysts' earnings forecasts," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(4), pages 424-437.
    12. Lawrence D. Brown & Artur Hugon, 2009. "Team earnings forecasting," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 587-607, December.
    13. Hugon, Artur & Muslu, Volkan, 2010. "Market demand for conservative analysts," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 42-57, May.
    14. Dan Palmon & Bharat Sarath & Hua C. Xin, 2020. "Bold Stock Recommendations: Informative or Worthless?†," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(2), pages 773-801, June.
    15. Lawrence D. Brown & Andrew C. Call & Michael B. Clement & Nathan Y. Sharp, 2015. "Inside the “Black Box” of Sell‐Side Financial Analysts," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 53(1), pages 1-47, March.
    16. Luong, Thanh Son & Qiu, Buhui & Wu, Yi (Ava), 2021. "Does it pay to be socially connected with wall street brokerages? Evidence from cost of equity," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    17. Huifang Yin & Huai Zhang, 2014. "Tournaments of financial analysts," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 573-605, June.
    18. AltInkIlIç, Oya & Hansen, Robert S., 2009. "On the information role of stock recommendation revisions," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 17-36, October.
    19. Wei Chen & Lili Dai & Hun‐Tong Tan, 2023. "When does analyst reputation matter? Evidence from analysts’ reliance on management guidance," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(7-8), pages 1305-1337, July.
    20. Chirag Nagpal & Robert E. Tillman & Prashant Reddy & Manuela Veloso, 2020. "Bayesian Consensus: Consensus Estimates from Miscalibrated Instruments under Heteroscedastic Noise," Papers 2004.06565, arXiv.org, revised Jan 2021.

    More about this item

    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:wly:jforec:v:43:y:2024:i:5:p:1530-1558. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/2966 .

    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.