Relinquishing the Right to Keep Silence? Accrual Behavior Changes after Short Interest Spikes

We found that company managers take cues from and react to short interest spikes by changing their accrual behavior. Those managers targeted more by short sellers are more likely to act (i.e., increase or decrease discretionary accruals). The accrual behavior changes yield information for market participants. Analysts condition their forecast revision of future earning s and cash flows on the accrual behavior changes.