The Information Content of Stock Splits: In the Context of Stock Splits Concurrently Announced with Earnings

Abstract

This paper examines the market responses to concurrent earnings and stock split announcements for evidence on the information content of stock splits. The majority of stock split research excludes splits announced with other information events due to confounding issues. However, it is difficult to extract the information content of splits by merely focusing on the standalone split announcement because stock splits are devoid of any information regarding firms’ future cash flows. This study explicitly considers how a stock split is evaluated in conjunction with current earnings. This study shows that the market reacts more positively to earnings news concurrently announced with stock splits, consistent with the idea that splits are favorable news. Furthermore, this study finds that stock returns of concurrent split–earnings announcers exhibit a greater association with future cash flows, suggesting that investors should value stock splits favorably for more persistent earnings ahead.