The predictable drift in stock prices following earnings announcements
is one of the longest-standing anomalies in the accounting and finance
554 T. CHORDIA AND L. SHIVAKUMAR
literature. In this paper, we show that part of the drift anomaly is attributable
to the inflation illusion argument of Modigliani and Cohn [1979]. The idea
is that, whereas bond market investors understand the impact of inflation
on discount rates, stock market investors do not account for the impact
of inflation on future earnings growth. More specifically, inflation illusion
will cause firms with positive earnings sensitivities to inflation to be undervalued
and stocks with negative earnings sensitivities to inflation to be
overvalued. Subsequent correction of this mispricing implies that inflation
will be related to future returns, with the sign and magnitude of the relation
depending on the firm’s earnings sensitivity to inflation.
The findings of this paper are consistent with inflation illusion partly
causing the post-earnings-announcement drift. The main results are:
(1) sensitivity of earnings to inflation varies systematically across stocks
sorted on SUE; (2) both future earnings growth and future returns of SUEsorted
stocks are positively related to past inflation; and (3) future earnings
announcement returns of SUE-sorted stocks are also positively related to
past inflation. Moreover, with regard to the last two findings, the predictive
ability of inflation for future earnings and returns is incremental to that
of past SUE. Although we check whether the drift could be interpreted as
compensation for inflation risk, we do not find evidence to support this argument.
We conclude that delayed reaction to inflation better explains our
results, and the underestimation of the magnitude of the earnings impact
of inflation partly explains the post-earnings-announcement drift.
Why do investors underestimate the significance of current macroeconomic
conditions to future earnings? One possible reason for this underestimation
is the complexity and the constantly changing nature of the economic
system within which market participants make earnings forecasts.
Given the frequent shifts in the earnings exposure of individual firms, the
various instances of regime changes in monetary policy, the relatively frequent
structural changes in the economy, and the large, but infrequent,
macroeconomic shocks, it may not be entirely surprising that investors, either
because of their limited processing ability or because of parameter
uncertainties, do not fully incorporate all macroeconomic-related earnings
expectations into prices. This could also potentially explain the persistence
of the post-earnings-announcement drift for over three decades after it was
first identified.
The predictable drift in stock prices following earnings announcements
is one of the longest-standing anomalies in the accounting and finance
554 T. CHORDIA AND L. SHIVAKUMAR
literature. In this paper, we show that part of the drift anomaly is attributable
to the inflation illusion argument of Modigliani and Cohn [1979]. The idea
is that, whereas bond market investors understand the impact of inflation
on discount rates, stock market investors do not account for the impact
of inflation on future earnings growth. More specifically, inflation illusion
will cause firms with positive earnings sensitivities to inflation to be undervalued
and stocks with negative earnings sensitivities to inflation to be
overvalued. Subsequent correction of this mispricing implies that inflation
will be related to future returns, with the sign and magnitude of the relation
depending on the firm’s earnings sensitivity to inflation.
The findings of this paper are consistent with inflation illusion partly
causing the post-earnings-announcement drift. The main results are:
(1) sensitivity of earnings to inflation varies systematically across stocks
sorted on SUE; (2) both future earnings growth and future returns of SUEsorted
stocks are positively related to past inflation; and (3) future earnings
announcement returns of SUE-sorted stocks are also positively related to
past inflation. Moreover, with regard to the last two findings, the predictive
ability of inflation for future earnings and returns is incremental to that
of past SUE. Although we check whether the drift could be interpreted as
compensation for inflation risk, we do not find evidence to support this argument.
We conclude that delayed reaction to inflation better explains our
results, and the underestimation of the magnitude of the earnings impact
of inflation partly explains the post-earnings-announcement drift.
Why do investors underestimate the significance of current macroeconomic
conditions to future earnings? One possible reason for this underestimation
is the complexity and the constantly changing nature of the economic
system within which market participants make earnings forecasts.
Given the frequent shifts in the earnings exposure of individual firms, the
various instances of regime changes in monetary policy, the relatively frequent
structural changes in the economy, and the large, but infrequent,
macroeconomic shocks, it may not be entirely surprising that investors, either
because of their limited processing ability or because of parameter
uncertainties, do not fully incorporate all macroeconomic-related earnings
expectations into prices. This could also potentially explain the persistence
of the post-earnings-announcement drift for over three decades after it was
first identified.
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