The market's response to recurring events the case of stock splits
A substantial body of literature suggests that stock splits convey information. In this paper we extend this literature by examining firms that split their stock at least twice during 1970–1988. We focus on firms with multiple splits to provide evidence on the market's use of previous split experience in interpreting a recurring event. Our major findings are that stock price responses to both stock splits and post-split earnings changes depend on earnings realizations observed after previous splits. These findings support the conclusion that the market uses previous split experience to interpret a recurring event.