{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,10]],"date-time":"2026-04-10T09:26:16Z","timestamp":1775813176548,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":53,"publisher":"Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS)","issue":"4","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Management Science"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,4]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>We examine the relation between individual analysts\u2019 exclusions that result in lower street earnings per share (EPS) forecasts than their EPS forecasts based on generally accepted accounting principles (i.e., EPS-decreasing exclusions) and the optimism of their target price forecasts. We document that analysts\u2019 EPS-decreasing exclusions from their annual forecasts mainly relate to positive nonrecurring items already reported by the firm. We find that analysts\u2019 EPS-decreasing exclusions are associated with more optimistic target prices. Our results also suggest that analysts\u2019 EPS-decreasing exclusions contribute to the optimism in their target prices by enabling analysts to project higher earnings growth. Further analyses reveal that the relation between analysts\u2019 EPS-decreasing exclusions and target price optimism is attributable, at least in part, to analysts\u2019 strategic incentives for issuing favorable valuations.<\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:p>This paper was accepted by Eric So, accounting.<\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:p>Funding: S. A. Larocque acknowledges the financial support of the KPMG Fellowship at the Mendoza College of Business.<\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:p>Supplemental Material: The data files are available at https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1287\/mnsc.2023.03627 .<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1287\/mnsc.2023.03627","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,8]],"date-time":"2025-08-08T15:47:57Z","timestamp":1754668077000},"page":"2895-2916","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Analysts\u2019 EPS-Decreasing Exclusions and Target Price Forecasts"],"prefix":"10.1287","volume":"72","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8508-4976","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stephannie A.","family":"Larocque","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4457-2820","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yong","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9611-2725","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wuyang","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1G5, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"109","reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jfineco.2004.01.002"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1475-679X.2008.00311.x"},{"issue":"2","key":"B3","first-page":"1","volume":"71","author":"Balakrishnan K","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. 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