Exploiting the setting of firms that are unable to disclose timely financial reports and thus must file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) the NT 10-K (Q) report, this study examines whether short sellers target firms with financial reporting weaknesses. We find that short interest increases in firms prior to the NT 10-K (Q) filing, suggesting that short sellers identify and target firms that cannot file their financial reports in a timely manner. Short selling is positively significantly related to subsequent late filing status, and is more pronounced in late filers with high newswire activity and with accelerated filing deadlines. Short selling of late filing firms is significantly negatively related to subsequent performance thereby suggesting that short sellers' trades pertinent to late filers are profitable. Overall, the results underscore a high information processing ability of short sellers in the setting of firms that exhibit financial reporting deficiencies.

本研究利用无法及时披露财务报告并因此必须向美国证券交易委员会 (SEC) 提交 NT 10-K (Q) 报告的公司的设置，研究卖空者是否针对财务报告存在缺陷的公司。我们发现公司的短期利息增加之前NT 10-K (Q) 文件，建议卖空者识别和瞄准无法及时提交财务报告的公司。卖空与随后的延迟提交状态呈显着正相关，并且在具有高新闻专线活动和加速提交截止日期的延迟提交者中更为明显。延迟申报公司的卖空与随后的业绩显着负相关，从而表明与延迟申报者相关的卖空交易是有利可图的。总体而言，结果强调了在财务报告缺陷的公司环境中卖空者的高信息处理能力。