Market Reactions to FinTech Announcements by Large Cap U.S. Financial Market Firms

Sammanfattning

Financial technology has continued to be a major influence in the financial landscape. The reception of technology initiatives set out by industry leaders, however, remains complex. This thesis investigates the impact that FinTech announcements have on the stock market returns of the largest financial institutions within the financial markets sector of the U.S. Building upon established event study methodologies, we analyse abnormal returns (AR) and cumulative abnormal returns (CAR) surrounding disclosure events between 2010 and 2025. Our findings reveal a significant negative cumulative market perception in the days following a FinTech announcement, alongside notable discrepancies in how the market evaluates different subcategories of these events. Our results show a significant cumulative abnormal return over the event window, although the insignificant announcement-day reaction suggests that the market adjustment is not isolated to the event day itself. Ultimately, this paper establishes that while American financial leaders are actively engaging in financial technology development, prevailing market sentiment toward these initiatives remains cautious and reliably provides a negative signal from firm to investor.