| This study investigates whether earnings components are correctly priced by the Chinese investors. Under the Chinese GAAP, total earnings can be easily decomposed into core earnings and non-core earnings. Core earnings are more persistent than non-core earnings and cash flows from operations are more persistent than accruals, as expected. However, the market underestimates (overestimates) the value implications of current core (non-core) earnings for future earnings. Furthermore, the market overprices (underprices) accruals (cash flows from operations). Therefore, future returns adjusted for risk factors identified in this study are predictable by the information contained in the components of current earnings. Both the portfolio tests and regression analysis generate economically significant abnormal returns that are robust to sensitivity checks. Further analysis suggests that there is no significant difference in the extent of mispricing across firms with different characteristics such as transaction costs, arbitrage risks, investor sophistication, or firm size. This could be due to the measurement errors in the proxy variables for these characteristics. |
