The main purpose of this study is to contribute to the previous literature by evaluating positive changes in analysts' consensus recommendations of the stocks listed in OMXS30. We analyze if new positive changes in consensus recommendations correspond with lower abnormal returns. By conducting an event study and performing a series of different statistical tests, we find that positive changes in analyst consensus provide a short lived negative mean abnormal return in certain cases. We argue that this implies that investors might interpret positive changes as a sell signal. Furthermore, we find some pieces of evidence to suggest that it may actually be changes in the mean target price rather than changes in recommendations that causes the movements in abnormal returns.

This study aims to examine the impact a released profit warning has on a company’s stock price. The effect will be examined using an event study. In addition, the market model will be applied to calculate the abnormal returns associated with the profit warning. Previous studies within the subject of profit warnings have shown that the abnormal return on the day of a published profit warning amounts to -14,72% (Jackson and Madura, 2003). Furthermore, the effect varies depending on the current state of the economy (Cox, Dayanandan, Donker and Nofsinger, 2017). The purpose of this study is to investigate the market response to a published profit warning on stocks associated with the Swedish all-share index OMXSPI. Calculations show that the abnormal returns on average totaled to about -8,3% during the first day of trading. In the longer perspective, up to 90 days following the profit warning, the study showed that stock prices recover the initial price fall. However, it should be noted that presented results are not statistically significant. / Studien avser att undersöka en negativ vinstvarnings effekt på aktuell aktiekurs. Effekten studeras genom en eventstudie som med hjälp av marknadsmodellen beräknar en akties överavkastning i samband med publicerad vinstvarning. Tidigare forskning inom området menar på att effekten är negativ om -14,72% (Jackson och Madura, 2003) samt att effekten är större ifall ekonomin befinner sig i en period präglad av tillväxt (Cox, Dayanandan, Donker och Nofsinger, 2017). Syftet med denna studie är att studera vinstvarningar hos företag som är en del av Stockholmsbörsens all-share index OMXSPI. Resultatet är att en vinstvarning i genomsnitt orsakade en överavkastning om ungefär -8,3% under den första handelsdagen efter offentliggörandet. På längre sikt, upp emot 90 dagar efter vinstvarning, har studien noterat att aktiekurserna återhämtar det initiala kursraset. Dock är resultaten inte statistiskt signifikanta.

En efterfrågan efter mer informativa revisionsberättelser har över tid växt fram, vilketledde till att The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) år 2015introducerade ISA 701: “Communicating Key Audit Matters in the Independent Auditor’sReport”. ISA 701 är en ny standard som innebär att revisorer ska inkludera områden somde finner vara av särskild betydelse i företaget under revision i sin revisionsberättelse,vilket började gälla på finansiella rapporter för noterade bolag avseende perioder somslutade på, eller efter, 15:e december år 2016. Med införandet av dessa Key Audit Matters(KAM) är IAASB:s förhoppning att revisionens värde för användarna av de finansiellarapporterna ska öka genom att mer företagsspecifik information görs tillgänglig irevisionsberättelsen samtidigt som revisionsprocessen i sig blir mer transparant.Tidigare forskning kring KAM har visat på blandade resultat. Många experimentellastudier har pekat mot att KAM har viss effekt på investerarna och deras beslut, medan deflesta arkivstudierna som gjorts på KAM, eller utökade revisionsberättelser i andraformer, sällan har visat på några märkbara effekter av KAM. Vi vill bredda forskningentill den svenska aktiemarknaden och undersökte därför vilka effekter KAM hade påStockholmsbörsen.Utifrån tidigare forskning och teorier som effektiv marknadshypotes, agentteorin ochinformationsasymmetri formulerade vi tre hypoteser att testa. Den första kollar påförstagångseffekten av KAM år 2016 och ifall antalet KAM spelade någon roll. Den andrahypotesen handlar om ifall förändring i ett företags KAM leder till någon reaktion påmarknaden och den tredje hypotesen undersöker ifall det finns något samband mellanöveravkastning och vilken lista bolag är noterade på.I syftet att se hur investerarna påverkas av KAM utförde vi en händelsestudie för attundersöka marknadens reaktion på publiceringen av revisionsberättelsen. I linje medmånga liknande studier använde vi Cumulative Abnormal Returns (CAR) för att mätainvesterarnas reaktion i form av överavkastning under perioden runt omkringpubliceringen av årsredovisningen och revisionsberättelsen.Den här studiens resultat finner inget stöd för att det fanns någon förstagångseffekt avKAM år 2016 utifrån antalet KAM, men finner däremot svagt stöd för att antalet KAMhade effekt CAR år 2021. Vidare fann studien inget stöd för att en förändring i KAM hadenågon effekt och heller inte något stöd för att listan som ett företag är noterat på hadenågot samband med överavkastning.

Mergers and acquisitions are staples of the business landscape. On a global basis, companies engage in tens of thousands of deals each year, collectively valued in the trillions of dollars. At the same time, decades of research, predominantly grounded in the finance literature, predicts most deals will fail. These competing ideas of high transaction volume and high failure rate lead researchers to wonder why managers would continue to engage in these deals knowing most are predicted to fail. While some might argue agency theory issues are the answer, the problem is the commonly used assessment measures (e.g., CAR and ROA) are unreliable when trying to determine the success or failure of individual transactions. M&A are complex transactions that may take years to develop value and require a multi-faceted approach for assessment. Using an inductive, theory-building, case study methodology the overarching focus of this study asks, “How does the use of multiple acquisition success measures help to identify M&A success.” This research develops a random sampling of 50 completed Cisco Systems acquisitions and determines and then compares the CAR, ROA, and managers’ subjective assessment outcomes for each transaction. Primary and secondary objectives and insights concerning cultural fit and talent retention are also found. An additional sample of 600 acquisitions from twelve highly acquisitive firms is developed and CAR results for each transaction, each firm, and the whole sample are determined. I organize this research effort into two studies. The first considers limitations of the commonly used academic measures of acquisition assessment and the second considers how a strategy-focused, multi-faceted or holistic approach to acquisition performance assessment might produce a more reliable measure of acquisition success. During the second study I obtain due diligence checklists and primary data through practitioner interviews. The research produces several important findings. The CAR results are not statistically significant and cannot be used to provide an assessment of the sample acquisitions. CAR, which is often used to predict the effect or influence of a piece of information on stock price, is not an effective measure of the success or failure of an individual acquisition transaction and the oft-cited statistics are not an accurate representation of M&A success rates. ROA has limitations in highly acquisitive firms, especially when the acquiring company is larger than the target firm. These findings support the argument by other researchers that suggest the need for another measure and that overreliance on a single success measure produces unreliable results. Additionally, this research offers new insights regarding practitioner assessment criteria, when assessment criteria are developed, and how practitioners assess these deals. More specifically, practitioners determine acquisition assessment criteria during corporate strategy discussions or when developing the business case for a deal. These new insights reinforce the need for a holistic, ex-post assessment to effectively determine M&A success or failure. / Business Administration/Strategic Management

Context The number of Initial Public Offerings on the Swedish market has increasedrapidly over the last decade, reporting over 100 IPOs only in 2021. Although theincrease has been extraordinary, the majority of the IPO performance researchhas been conducted on larger markets such as the US, Germany, and China. Thiscreates a gap in the research regarding the performance of IPOs on the fastgrowing Swedish stock market.  Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to fill the identified research gap and examine howthe Swedish IPOs perform in relation to established firms listed on the OMXSSmall Cap. Findings on long-term over-or underperformance would lay afoundation for potential investment strategies as well as show signs ofinformation asymmetry and mispricing. To further extend the use of ourfindings, firm-specific factors will be tested in a regression model to find ifspecific firm characteristics have a positive or negative impact on the long-termperformance of the IPOs.  Questions at issue 1. Does the Swedish Initial Public Offerings over/underperform comparedto the OMXS Small Cap in the long run? 2. Which firm-specific factors affect the long-term performance of an IPO? Methodology To find if the IPOs over-or underperform the OMXS Small Cap index, the Buyand Hold Abnormal Returns over 24 and 36 months are calculated with theOMXS Small Cap as a benchmark index. Further, a regression analysis with 15explanatory variables is performed with the received BHAR results as thedependent variable to find if there are any significant relationships between thefirm-specific variables measured before the IPO and the long-term performance.  Results The Buy and Hold Abnormal Returns presented a positive abnormal return forboth periods measured, with a significant overperformance of 9,91% over the36-month period, and 21,14% for the 24-month period. Further, the regressionanalysis showed a positive relationship between firm performance and firm sizeand Return On Equity, indicating that a high ROE, as well as a larger firm sizeat the date of the listing, increases the chances of higher long-term returns.

The Nordic markets have in recent years been flooded by IPOs, which have attracted the attention of investors seeking to capitalise on the IPO market. Previous studies on the IPO market have found strong evidence of underpricing, which is increasing in good market conditons. Using a sample of 448 IPOs, this thesis have examinated how the IPOs in the Nordic region perfrom in the aftermarket during one year, dependent on the market conditon at the time of the issuance. The IPOs in the sample have been divided into subgroups based on the market condtion at the time of the issuance, and a totalt of three different defitnions of how the market conditoion is defined have been used. The abnormal return of the IPOs have furthermore been calculated against two alternative benchmarks to streanghen the validity of the result. The result of the study indicates that the underpricing of IPOs in the Nordic region is lower compared to other larger economies. Evidence have also been presented which show that the market condition at the time of the issuance greatly affects the return of the IPOs.

This thesis aims to examine the relationship between ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) ratings and the performance of European stocks. The purpose of this study is to examine the existing evidence pertaining to this relationship and the contradictory results that have been offered by previous scholars. The sample used includes ESG and stock return data from Refinitiv for the years 2010 to 2021 on the European market (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom). An ESG portfolio approach is used as the econometric framework, where performance evaluation models such as the CAPM model developed by Sharpe (1964), Lintner (1965), and Mossin (1966), Fama- and French (1992) 3-factor and Carhart (1997) 4-factor models are applied. The results obtained from this study could not show any significant alphas to prove a relationship between ESG ratings and stock performance. Thus, no abnormal returns should be expected by investors that use an active investment strategy based on ESG screening.

Private equity-modellen (PE) har haft en kraftig framfart sedan 80-talets början, där överlägsen bolagsstyrning skapat konkurrenskraftiga portföljbolag som erbjudit stark avkastning till institutionella investerare. I takt med det ökade högtrycket av offentliga transaktioner har dessa portföljbolag i allt större utsträckning nått den publika scenen. Denna kvantitativa studie undersöker hur initialavkastning och avkastning på medellång sikt skiljer sig mellan PE-ägda och icke-PE-ägda IPOs på Stockholmsbörsen under perioden 2011 - 2021. Dessutom utreds hur förhållandet mellan PE-ägare och rådgivande investmentbanker givet deras geografiska ursprung och relativa förhandlingskraft kan komma att påverka initialavkastningen för de PE-ägda enheterna. Studien finner inga signifikanta belägg för att diskrepanser i avkastning skulle föreligga grupperna emellan, inte heller att det geografiska ursprunget för den rådgivande investmentbanken har en betydande påverkan på initialavkastningen. Även om studien påvisar samband som styrker frågeställningen är resultaten inte robusta nog för att fastslå att det föreligger en påtaglig skillnad till förmån för PE-ägda IPOs.

This study examines the viability of treating M&A non-consummation decisions (NCDs) as strategic options. A review of published research in strategic management journals reveals that this topic has yet to undergo rigorous academic examination. Putting the M&A non-consummation phenomenon under a strategic management lens, this study asks the following research questions about the acquiring firm: 1) How does an M&A NCD affect the market value of firms? 2) Under what conditions does an M&A non-consummation enhance firms' value? 3) How can an NCD be executed so that it favorably affects the value of the firm? Study data were collected from numerous secondary sources such as CRSP, Ward's Business Directory, Lexis-Nexis Academic Database etc. The study sample size was 158 and for each NCD event, several variables were computed. With cumulative abnormal returns for a (-30, -1) pre-event period -- as a measure of firm performance -- as the dependent variable, multiple regression estimation used the following independent variables: strategic fit, relatedness, cultural fit, timing of NCD and coverage of NCDs. In estimating the regression models, confounding events were identified and controlled for. Several of the study hypotheses are supported, notably the hypotheses pertaining to cultural fit and timing of the NCD. Findings and implications are discussed. Taken as a whole, the study highlights the value of treating M&A NCDs as part of the repertoire of strategic options of acquiring firms. / Business Administration

I examine the implications of changes in operating profit margins during a sales decline for future earnings and abnormal stock returns. When sales decrease, managers decide whether to cut slack resources. Managers who are optimistic about their future operations often retain slack resources in anticipation of resurging sales, thereby decreasing concurrent profitability. Conversely, managers who are pessimistic about their future operations typically reduce slack resources to gain efficiency, thereby increasing concurrent profitability. I find that analysts and investors persistently underestimate the future profitability of firms that exhibit a large decrease in current profitability. I also find that subsequent quarterly earnings announcements gradually reveal future profitability, resulting in concentrated positive abnormal returns in short pre-announcement windows for about a year after a sales decline. These results suggest that analysts and investors have difficulties evaluating managers’ resource adjustment decisions when a large decrease in concurrent profitability can indicate managers’ optimistic expectations. / Business Administration/Accounting