Forward-Looking Disclosure with and Without Time Frames: Determinants, Market Responses, and Implications

This study explores the informativeness of forward-looking disclosures in managers’ speeches in U.S. quarterly earnings conference calls, focusing on time-frame specificity—whether statements provide precise temporal horizons. Using a keyword search, forward-looking statements (FLSs) in managers’ speeches in U.S. quarterly earnings conference calls are classified into those with and without specific time frames, and tests of their determinants, market responses, and implications for firms’ future performance are conducted. First, uncertainty is positively associated only with FLSs without time frames, likely because managers find it more difficult to specify time frames under uncertainty or are less willing to be held accountable. Second, investors respond more quickly to FLSs with time frames and more slowly to those without, while analysts use both types to improve forecasts; however, FLSs without time frames increase forecast dispersion, whereas those with time frames reduce it, suggesting greater information processing difficulty. Third, larger changes in future earnings and discretionary accruals are associated with more FLSs without time frames, while capital investment increases only with more FLSs with time frames. Collectively, these findings indicate that time-frame specificity conveys differential informational value.