In April 2016, the then-CEO of Perrigo (PRGO), Joe Papa, left the company to join the troubled pharmaceutical giant Valeant (VRX). On the heels of the accounting scandal surrounding Valeant’s subsidiary Philidor, it was thought that new leadership might be able to turn … Continue reading
Category Archives: Academia
Literature Review: “Qualitative Characteristics of Financial Reporting Errors Deemed Immaterial by Managers”
In this post, we look at a recent paper titled “Qualitative Characteristics of Financial Reporting Errors Deemed Immaterial by Managers” by Preeti Choudhary, Kenneth Merkley, and Katherine Schipper. The authors use Audit Analytics’ databases on restatements and immaterial error corrections to provide an in-depth analysis of the … Continue reading
Benford’s Law Among the Russell 3000
Benford’s Law, an arcane rule from the math books, is making something of a splash in the world of financial analysis. The basic idea is this: in certain sets of data (the lengths of a collection of rivers, the populations … Continue reading
Literature Review: “An Analysis and Taxonomy of Disclosure Controls and Procedures Effectiveness”
In a recent post, we discussed trends in Sarbanes-Oxley Act Section 302 Disclosure Controls and Procedures (“DC&P”, or “SOX 302”) filings, and highlighted some reasons why disclosure controls may be of interest to investors and stakeholders. In this post, we look at … Continue reading
The PCAOB’s Effect on Auditor Market Share
One of the most important aspects of the epochal Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) of 2002 was the institution of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), whose purpose, in part, was to oversee the audits of public companies to promote and enforce … Continue reading
The Misrepresentation of Earnings; by Dichev et al.
In a recent article in the Financial Analysts Journal, titled “The Misrepresentation of Earnings,” Ilia Dichev, John Graham, Campbell R. Harvey, and Shiva Rajgopal explore the defining characteristics of earnings quality and the misrepresentation of earnings. As part of their inquiry, … Continue reading
Acquisition Targets: Strong Companies have Better Chances
The market has seen a recent surge in mergers and acquisitions. In the first three quarters of 2015, there have been as many as 45 M&A deals, each of which were over $10 billion. Of those, 33, totaling almost $860 billion, targeted … Continue reading