Orders Backlog in Earnings Conference Calls

Abstract

Firm disclosure of order backlog (OB) is considered important to assess future sales and profits. The extant literature on OB has generally documented positive associations between increases in OB and market returns. These associations were based on annual disclosures of backlog in 10-K filings, and could have been caused by other simultaneous disclosures that were also correlated with order backlog. To focus on the direct effects of backlog on market participants, we use references to OB in earnings conference call transcripts. We find incremental market reactions to OB after controlling for earnings surprise and other information communicated during the conference call. Our findings also reveal that OB disclosures are more relevant when they are supported by numbers and when firms derive a material amount of their demand from OB.

Keywords: order backlog, conference calls, qualitative disclosures, stock returns

JEL Classification: G14, M41