This study aimed to explore the impact of firm-specific operating determinants on accounting-based downside risk (earnings or ROA downside risk, accruals downside risk, and operating cash flow downside risk). It contributes to the accounting literature by analyzing the factors influencing these specific downside risks within the business environment of Egypt, as a case study of emerging economies. Additionally, the study conducts a comparative analysis across different economic sectors within the Egyptian and Saudi environments concerning the study variables. To test the study's hypotheses, we relied on the published financial reports of two firm samples. The first sample consisted of 107 non-financial listed companies on the Egyptian Stock Exchange from 2017 to 2023. The second sample included 117 non-financial listed companies on the Saudi Stock Market (Tadawul) during the same period. Companies were selected to represent the same industrial sectors in both samples to ensure comparability. The findings revealed a positive effect of both financial leverage and asset tangibility, and a negative effect of both firm size and profitability on earnings downside risk for Egyptian firms. For Saudi firms, the results showed a positive effect of firm size, financial leverage, and liquidity, and a negative effect of profitability and cash flow on earnings downside risk. Regarding accruals downside risk for Egyptian firms, the study found a positive effect of financial leverage, cash flow, and asset tangibility, and a negative effect of firm age, firm size, profitability, and liquidity. For the Saudi sample, there was a positive effect of firm age, financial leverage, cash flow, and asset tangibility, and a negative effect of profitability on accruals downside risk. Concerning operating cash flow downside risk in Egyptian firms, the results indicated a positive effect of firm age, firm size, and liquidity, and a negative effect of profitability, financial leverage, cash flow, and asset tangibility. For Saudi firms, the analysis showed a positive effect of firm age, firm size, and liquidity, and a negative effect of profitability, cash flow, and asset tangibility on operating cash flow downside risk. Keywords: Firm-Specific Determinants; Earnings or ROA Downside Risk; Accruals Downside Risk; Operating Cash Flow Downside Risk; Emerging Markets.