Do record earnings affect market reactions to earnings news

We find evidence that a firm’s record earnings influence market response to earnings news. Our results show that the proximity of the firm’s earnings to its record earnings leads to investors’ underreaction following earnings announcements, exacerbating post-earnings-announcement drift. Such biased behavior is more pronounced in low-growth firms and firms with low institutional ownership. Meanwhile, analysts are not subject to this anchoring bias when a firm’s earnings are close to its record earnings. Overall, we find that a firm’s record earnings play an important role as an anchor when market participants evaluate the firm’s earnings news.