We study the disclosure of non-GAAP earnings combined with impression management techniques in earnings announcement press releases. We find that managers who exclude recurring earnings components from their self-constructed non-GAAP earnings figures use higher impression management in earnings press releases. This finding is consistent with the strategic use of impression management to hide the persistence of non-GAAP adjustments, and consequently to overstate the persistence of non-GAAP earnings. Our market reaction tests indicate that both investors and financial analysts are able to identify managers’ intentions and react negatively to the disclosure of non-GAAP information that is combined with high impression management

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Impression management, non-GAAP