Why Do Accruals Predict Earnings?
Posted: 11 Jan 2019
Date Written: November 27, 2018
Abstract
Higher accruals are associated with lower subsequent earnings. We show this phenomenon can be explained by the way sales, profits, and working capital respond to changes in a firm's product markets. Empirically, high accruals predict high subsequent sales growth but a long-lasting drop in both profits and profitability. Accruals also predict an increase in future competition, suggesting that accruals are correlated with abnormally high — and, in equilibrium, transitory — true profitability that attracts new entrants to the industry. Overall, the predictive power of accruals is better explained by product-market effects than by measurement error in accruals or diminishing returns from investment.
Keywords: Accruals, Earnings Persistence, Measurement Error, Reversals
JEL Classification: G14, M41
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation