Role of Management Earnings Forecast Error in Stock Market Efficiency with Emphasis on Earnings and Operation Earnings Components

The purpose of this research was to investigate the role of management earnings forecast errors in stock market efficiency with emphasis on operation earnings and their components in the Tehran Stock Exchange from 2009 to 2017.

Data was collected using document mining method, and the data analysis method was inferential. Panel data model and multivariate regression method were used to test the research hypotheses, using the Pethnoster test. In this study, the dependent variables are the abnormal stock returns and the first error of management forecast adjustment, and the independent variables are free cash flow and accruals.

The findings of this study showed that operating earnings and their components have positive effects on future abnormal returns. Also, the persistence of operating earnings and their components have negative impacts on the first adjusted management earnings forecast errors. Other results suggested that adding management earnings forecast errors to the earnings persistence model and its components have no effect on future abnormal returns. In addition, it was found that adding abnormal returns to the earnings persistence model and its components affect the error of the first adjusted management earnings forecast errors.

In sum, the results of this study show that participants in the capital market do not consider the persistence of operating earnings and their components to be effective in their expectations, and take their effects less than real. Also, the current information from management earnings forecast errors has not changed market inefficiencies.