Security analysts, cash flow forecasts, and turnover

Shailendra Pandit, Richard H. Willis and Ling Zhou

International Journal of Forecasting, 2012, vol. 28, issue 4, 874-890

Abstract: We examine the relationship between security analyst turnover and the relative accuracy of their annual earnings and cash flow forecasts. Controlling for self-selection in an analyst’s decision to issue a cash flow forecast, we find that relatively more accurate earnings and cash flow forecasts reduce the probability of turnover. Relative earnings forecast accuracy decreases the probability of turnover more than relative cash flow forecast accuracy. We conduct two cross-sectional tests. We find that relative cash flow forecast accuracy is more important in the analyst’s career outcome when cash flow forecasts are potentially more useful to investors. We find that relative cash flow forecast accuracy is more heavily weighted in the career outcome when the number of other analysts providing cash flow forecasts for the firm is larger. This finding is consistent with economic intuition that relative performance evaluation is more effective when larger groups of individuals are compared.

Keywords: Earnings forecasting; Econometric models; Evaluating forecasts; Forecasting profession; Monitoring forecasts (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169207012000313
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:intfor:v:28:y:2012:i:4:p:874-890

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijforecast.2012.01.002

Access Statistics for this article

International Journal of Forecasting is currently edited by R. J. Hyndman

More articles in International Journal of Forecasting from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().