Corporate AI Adoption Announcements and Stock Market Reactions
Abstract
Since the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, generative AI has become a major focus for global capital markets. However, the market reactions to AI-related announcements of listed companies are very heterogeneous, and the underlying mechanisms are still underexplored. In this study, this paper analyze AI announcements by firms in a fixed list of S&P 100 constituents over the period 2023–2024. Researchers test, using event study methods and cross-sectional regressions, whether implementation intensity and technological capabilities are associated with short-term market reactions. The mean cumulative abnormal return (CAR) for the [-5, +5] window is 3.0%, which is statistically different from zero at the 5% level and is based on 26 announcements with complete return data. This paper find that implementation-oriented announcements are associated with CARs that are about 4.6 percentage points higher than intention-oriented announcements, although the effect is only marginally significant at the 10% level and becomes insignificant under alternative specifications. The implementation hypothesis is thus supported in a suggestive but not robust way. The interaction of implementation stage with R&D intensity is not significant. Hence, the technological-capability hypothesis is not supported. Overall, the observed implementation evidence seems to be associated with more positive market reactions within the short window, but the small sample and the sensitivity of the results to the specification urge caution in interpretation.
