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When does the tone of earnings press releases matter?

Author

Listed:
  • Thewissen, James
  • Torsin, Wouter
  • Boudt, Kris

Abstract

The tone of a firm's financial disclosure is increasingly used as a variable in panel data regressions to predict future performance and explain investors' reaction at earnings announcement. We investigate when tone is informative, and argue that the informativeness of tone increases with the information asymmetry between firms and investors. Using a sample of over 50,000 earnings press releases of about 1800 U.S. public firms between 2004 and 2015, we find that firm growth, size, age, complexity and forecast inaccuracy are key drivers of tone informativeness. The effect is economically significant, since, compared to the reference case of a transparent firm, we find that the slope coefficient of tone doubles or even quadruples in panel data regressions when the firm operates in an environment with high information asymmetry.
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Suggested Citation

  • Thewissen, James & Torsin, Wouter & Boudt, Kris, 2018. "When does the tone of earnings press releases matter?," LIDAM Reprints LFIN 2018001, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain Finance (LFIN).
    • Handle: RePEc:ajf:louvlr:2018001
    Note: In : International Review of Financial Analysis, Vol. 57, no. 2, p. 231-245 (2018)
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    Cited by:

    1. Henry, Elaine & Thewissen, James & Torsin, Wouter, 2021. "International Earnings Announcements: Tone, Forward-looking Statements, and Informativeness," LIDAM Discussion Papers LFIN 2021016, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain Finance (LFIN).
    2. Wei, Lu & Wei, Mingye & Jing, Haozhe & Jing, Zhongbo, 2025. "Annual report tone and bank risk-taking behavior: Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(PA).
    3. Mather, Paul & Ranasinghe, Dinithi & Unda, Luisa A., 2021. "Are gender diverse boards more cautious? The impact of board gender diversity on sentiment in earnings press releases," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(3).
    4. Hesham Bassyouny & Tarek Abdelfattah, 2022. "Executives vs. governance: Who has the predictive power? Evidence from narrative tone," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 361-382, January.
    5. Andres Algaba & David Ardia & Keven Bluteau & Samuel Borms & Kris Boudt, 2020. "Econometrics Meets Sentiment: An Overview Of Methodology And Applications," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 512-547, July.
    6. Khine Kyaw & Mojisola Olugbode & Barbara Petracci, 2020. "Is the market surprised by the surprise?," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 17(1), pages 20-29, March.
    7. Bassyouny, Hesham & Abdelfattah, Tarek & Tao, Lei, 2020. "Beyond narrative disclosure tone: The upper echelons theory perspective," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    8. Arslan-Ayaydin, Özgür & Bishara, Norman & Thewissen, James & Torsin, Wouter, 2020. "Managerial career concerns and the content of corporate disclosures: An analysis of the tone of earnings press releases," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    9. Özgür Arslan‐Ayaydin & James Thewissen & Wouter Torsin, 2021. "Disclosure tone management and labor unions," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1-2), pages 102-147, January.
    10. Bassyouny, Hesham & Abdelfattah, Tarek & Tao, Lei, 2022. "Narrative disclosure tone: A review and areas for future research," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    11. Baker, H. Kent & Kumar, Satish & Goyal, Kirti & Sharma, Anuj, 2021. "International review of financial analysis: A retrospective evaluation between 1992 and 2020," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).

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