Jour Fixe - The Annual General Meeting revisited: The role of the CEO's speech

Abstract: We analyze the informational value of the Annual General Meeting (AGM). As the AGM is typically preceded by several information disclosures, it may be expected to contribute only marginally to investors’ decision-making. We compile a unique comprehensive dataset of 457 German AGMs between 2008 and 2016, incorporating the CEO’s speech at the AGM using textual analysis. We find that the textual sentiment is significantly related to subsequent return reactions and firm profitability.