Risk Factor Disclosures: Do Managers and Markets Speak the Same Language?

Abstract

Prior research has documented that the market responds to quarterly updates to annual risk factor disclosures at the time of release, suggesting quarterly risk factor updates provide informational value to investors. In this study, we examine whether future returns are associated with quarterly risk factor updates. We find that firms with quarterly risk factor updates experience lower future returns, relative to firms without updates. Further, we find that firms that shy away from language indicating risk to firm fundamentals in a quarterly risk factor update exhibit the strongest predictability of future returns. This result suggests that the content of an update is related to the completeness of the market reaction at the time the 10-Q is filed. This research is of direct interest to investors and regulators who are currently considering how to improve risk factor disclosure requirements.