The Readability of 10-K Reports and Stock Price Crash Risk

Abstract

This paper shows that less readable 10-K reports predict higher stock price crash risk. Using stock price crash risk or, more generally, the third moment of stock return distribution as a powerful indicator of managerial bad news hoarding, our results strongly support the prediction that managers can successfully hide adverse information and boost current stock prices by writing more complex financial reports. Additional analyses show that the effect of financial reporting complexity on crash risk is more pronounced for firms with (persistent) negative earnings news or with transitory positive earnings news, for firms with greater CEO stock option incentive, and for firms with lower litigation risk. We also find that the passage of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act (SOX) does not mitigate the relation between financial reporting complexity and crash risk. Moreover, it appears that textual obfuscation is more significant than earnings management in determining crash risk in the post-SOX era. Finally, firms with less readable financial reports experience sharper price drops during the 2007–2008 financial crisis.