Information Content of Management Earnings Forecasts, Repeat of Bias in Forecasts and Factors Affecting Management Earnings Forecasts Error

Management forecasts about future earnings have valuable potentials that can help investors to make efficient decisions. The value of these forecasts related to precision and believability of them. With a sample of 176 companies listed in Tehran securities exchange, we exam the Information content of management earnings forecasts, repeat of bias in forecasts and factors affecting management earnings forecasts error. Results indicate that management’s earnings forecasts have information content, and the precision of current year forecasts related to market-adjusted stock return cumulated over the seven trading days around the forecast release date. Investors are more responsive to new management forecast news when past management forecasts met. Other results indicate that managers who have high return on assets, appear to over-extrapolate past performance in forecasting future earnings. We also find that that working capital accrual, forecast error in current year and institutional investor related to management’s earnings forecasts error of future year.