Abstract
This current study focused on the impact of published accounting information to investors in the stock market in Saudi Arabia. The study showed that the accounting data that affect the stocks prices in stock market do not explain all changes in stock prices. This means that there are many other factors affecting them, and that stock prices do not necessarily reflect all the data available to them. This situation may allow some dealers in the markets to achieve unusual gains as a result of the asymmetry of information among clients. This consequently leads the Saudi Stock Markets to be incapable of being an efficient market. The study showed that a huge proportion of investors know the financial statements and consider that they are very potential. However, large number of investors relies not on these statements in their investment decisions. It has also been shown that a large proportion of investors rely on the decision to purchase stocks on the news that people communicate about those stocks, and making them susceptible to the rumors that are in the right of certain categories. This affirms that the absence of awareness of the investors is still rampant. It also showed that a large number of Saudi investors are inclined towards speculation in the hope of making quick gains, while small category tends to long-term investment. There is also a group of investors actually interested in the profitability of the companies before investing in stocks, and the Saudi investor knows what is good to purchase (either for speculative or long-term investment).).
