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Earnings, retained earnings, and book-to-market in the cross section of expected returns

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  • Ball, Ray
  • Gerakos, Joseph
  • Linnainmaa, Juhani T.
  • Nikolaev, Valeri

Abstract

Book value of equity consists of two economically different components: retained earnings and contributed capital. We predict that book-to-market strategies work because the retained earnings component of the book value of equity includes the accumulation and, hence, the averaging of past earnings. Retained earnings-to-market predicts the cross section of average returns in U.S. and international data and subsumes book-to-market. Contributed capital-to-market has no predictive power. We show that retained earnings-to-market, and, by extension, book-to-market, predicts returns because it is a good proxy for underlying earnings yield (Ball, 1978; Berk, 1995) and not because book value represents intrinsic value.

Suggested Citation

  • Ball, Ray & Gerakos, Joseph & Linnainmaa, Juhani T. & Nikolaev, Valeri, 2020. "Earnings, retained earnings, and book-to-market in the cross section of expected returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(1), pages 231-254.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfinec:v:135:y:2020:i:1:p:231-254
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2019.05.013
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    8. Ball, Ray & Nikolaev, Valeri V., 2022. "On earnings and cash flows as predictors of future cash flows," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1).
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Book-to-market; Contributed capital; Earnings yield; Mispricing; Retained earnings; Value premium;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

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