Topic:Silence Speaks: The Predictive Ability of Analyst Silence after Firm Site Visits

Speaker：KONG Dongmin，Zhongnan University of Economics and Law

Time：9:30~11:30 Friday April 13, 2018

Site：B226

Abstract:This paper examines the information content of analysts’ silence after firm-site visits. We find that: 1) Analyst silence negatively predicts firms’ earnings surprises. 2) The effect is more pronounced when analysts face buy-side pressure, compared to analysts without business relationship. 3) Analyst silence negatively signals market reaction to future earnings announcements. 4) Tradable portfolios based on analyst silence generate approximately 5% annual return. Our findings are robust to alternative measures and different specifications. Overall, this study sheds new insight on the informativeness of analyst silence, which is not fully revealed only via public earnings forecasts or stock recommendations.