AbnormalAccruals · Accruals · Xie (2001)

Abnormal Accruals

Long minus short decile portfolio, value-weighted, market-adjusted. Quarterly, 1972Q3 to 2024Q4.

Expected return · posterior mean, % per year, averaged over the window
Next quarter
2026Q4
2.30%
95% interval −2.53% to 6.47%
Next year
2026Q4–2027Q3
2.35%
95% interval −2.48% to 6.49%
Next five years
2026Q4–2031Q3
2.53%
95% interval −2.28% to 6.61%

Forecast made 16 Sep 2026, conditioning on this portfolio's OAP returns, which end 2024Q4. The 7 quarters between then and 2026Q4 are unobserved and are integrated out under the model.

Cumulative market-adjusted return

+351% since 1972Q3 · log scale

Past performance, annualized

Window Mean Vol. Sharpe t
1972Q3–2024Q4 3.82% 13.60% 0.28 2.04
2020Q1–2024Q4 −5.85% 20.30% −0.29 −0.64
2024Q1–2024Q4 −10.57% 9.79% −1.08 −1.08

Forecast Sharpe ratio, annualized

Window Mean 95% interval P(neg)
2026Q4 0.17 −0.19 – 0.47 0.16
2026Q4–2027Q3 0.17 −0.17 – 0.47 0.15
2026Q4–2031Q3 0.18 −0.12 – 0.47 0.13
Category
Accruals
Form
Continuous
Data
Accounting
Sorted on
Low minus high
Names per leg
340 long / 382.5 short median · 190 at the 10th pctile
Original sample
1971–1992