Events

Speaker:

Mr. Peeyush Taori
Ph.D. Candidate in Accounting
London Business School

Abstract:

This paper examines firms’ disclosures at Analyst/Investor (AI) Days, an important and unique disclosure medium. Firms hosting AI Days can potentially disclose information through either publicly observable managerial presentation sessions or private informal break sessions or both. By constructing a novel sample of amount of time firms devote for public sessions and informal break sessions as proxies for amount of disclosures, I show that both sessions contain important information content and generate significant stock reaction and analyst activity around the event. By measuring Forward-Looking Statements (FLS) from transcripts of public presentations, I find that firms with more time apportioned for public presentations issue significantly more FLS, and FLS is associated with stock returns and analyst activity. Additionally, while public time and FLS help reduce information asymmetry, I do not find a similar association with informal break sessions suggesting that while both public presentations and private break sessions provide information content, nature and accessibility of such information is different. Finally, I find that capital market impact of public time and FLS is stronger for firms facing higher uncertainty, highlighting role of AI days as an important disclosure medium.