Abstract–Further Evidence on the Random Nature of the Errors Associated with Corporate Earnings Forecasts

Extract

Previous research suggests that earnings growth rates are random in nature such that reliable earnings projections cannot be made based solely on the earnings time series. The purpose of this study was to determine whether earnings forecasts made by security analysts remain a random variable when the information set is expanded to include publicly available information about firms whose earnings are being projected. This was accomplished by relating firm financial variables to the forecast errors resulting from corporate earnings forecasts.