Overreaction hypothesis

Overreaction hypothesis

The supposition that investors overreact to unanticipated news, resulting in exaggerated movements in stock prices followed by corrections.

Overreaction Hypothesis

A theory stating that the crowd overreacts to both good news and bad news. For example, when a company announces unexpectedly high earnings, this can create a buying panic that unjustifiably drives up the company's stock price. Likewise, when the earnings are unexpectedly bad, there can be a selling panic that drives down the price. One can use the overreaction hypothesis to make short-term profits in either direction.