Textual Information and IPO Underpricing: A Machine Learning Approach

Katsafados, Apostolos G. and Androutsopoulos, Ion and Chalkidis, Ilias and Fergadiotis, Manos and Leledakis, George N. and Pyrgiotakis, Emmanouil G. (2020): Textual Information and IPO Underpricing: A Machine Learning Approach.

Abstract

This study examines the predictive power of textual information from S-1 filings in explaining IPO underpricing. Our empirical approach differs from previous research, as we utilize several machine learning algorithms to predict whether an IPO will be underpriced, or not. We analyze a large sample of 2,481 U.S. IPOs from 1997 to 2016, and we find that textual information can effectively complement traditional financial variables in terms of prediction accuracy. In fact, models that use both textual data and financial variables as inputs have superior performance compared to models using a single type of input. We attribute our findings to the fact that textual information can reduce the ex-ante valuation uncertainty of IPO firms, thus leading to more accurate estimates.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• English Title: Textual Information and IPO Underpricing: A Machine Learning Aapproach
• Language: English
• Keywords: Initial public offerings; First-day returns; Machine learning; Natural language processing
• Subjects: G - Financial Economics > G0 - General > G02 - Behavioral Finance: Underlying Principles; G - Financial Economics > G1 - General Financial Markets > G14 - Information and Market Efficiency ; Event Studies ; Insider Trading; G - Financial Economics > G3 - Corporate Finance and Governance > G30 - General; G - Financial Economics > G3 - Corporate Finance and Governance > G32 - Financing Policy ; Financial Risk and Risk Management ; Capital and Ownership Structure ; Value of Firms ; Goodwill

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