Earnings Disclosures and Stockholder Lawsuits

Abstract

This paper provides evidence on the relation between the timeliness of voluntary earnings disclosures and the outcomes of related stockholder litigation. Like Francis Philbrick and Schipper (1994a) I find that many lawsuits result from voluntary disclosures of adverse earnings news. However I also document that: (1) many voluntary earnings disclosures are not made on a timely basis; (2) less timely voluntary disclosures result in more costly lawsuit outcomes; (3) a simple model that predicts that lawsuits occur if large firms release adverse earnings news on earnings announcement dates works well in predicting stockholder litigation. Overall it seems lawsuit outcomes depend at least to some degree on the "merits" of stockholders' claims so that managers can benefit by making more timely earnings disclosures.