Earnings management and firm performance following open-market repurchases

Both post-repurchase abnormal returns and reported improvement in operating performance are driven, at least in part, by pre-repurchase downward earnings management rather than genuine growth in profitability. The downward earnings management increases with both the percentage of the company that managers repurchase and CEO ownership. Pre-repurchase abnormal accruals are also negatively associated with future performance, with the association driven mainly by those firms that report the largest income-decreasing abnormal accruals. The study suggests that one reason firms experience post-repurchase abnormal returns is that post-repurchase realized earnings growth exceeds expectations formed on the basis of pre-repurchase deflated earnings numbers.