A Study on the Predictive Power of MD&A Text Features on the Future Profitability of A-Share Listed Companies
Main Article Content
Keywords
MD&A, text analysis, future profitability, management tone, forward-looking information
Abstract
Against the backdrop of increasing attention to narrative information in the capital market, this paper takes A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2013 to 2023 as samples and examines the predictive role of management tone, forward-looking information, and text length on the future profitability of enterprises based on the management discussion and analysis (MD&A) texts in annual reports. The study finds that MD&A text features have significant information content, with net positive tone and text length showing a significant positive correlation with the future profitability of enterprises, and forward-looking information showing a significant negative correlation. Further analysis shows that narrative disclosure in annual reports can provide incremental information beyond financial data for identifying the future operating performance of enterprises. The conclusions of this paper provide empirical evidence for understanding the information value of Chinese financial texts and optimizing the information disclosure of listed companies.
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