Non-cash, non-earnings determinants of share prices




Schadewitz H, Kanto A, Kahra H, Blevins D

American Academy of Accounting and Finance, 220 Oliver Drive, Brookhaven, Mississippi 39601

2000

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Theoretically, the value of a firm´s equity equals the present value of its future cash flows. In practice, however, there is no direct access to future cash flows. Therefore, surrogates for cash flows must be applied in the computation of share value. Investors have access to three such surrogates: (1) earnings disclosures, (2) quantitative non-earnings disclosures, and (3) qualitative disclosures. Earnings are but a step away from cash flows. Thus, earnings disclosures are widely used by practitioners and are widely studied by researchers. Reported earnings are found to influence investor behavior both directly and indirectly, via analysts´ recommendations. Yet, earnings have not provided satisfactory estimates of future cash flows. For this reason, the most recent research focuses on non-earnings indicators of share value. This article reviews that effort. Thus far, the emphasis in non-earnings research is centered on: (1) a resurgence of fundamental analysis, (2) a structured appraisal of the Management Discussion & Analysis section of the financial statements and (3) the renewal of efforts to develop  useful disclosure indices. These new thrusts are still very few in number and are so recent that about a fourth of the papers reviewed in this article are forthcoming.



Last updated on 2024-26-11 at 20:20