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The Other Side of Value: Good Growth and the Gross Profitability Premium

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  • Robert Novy-Marx

Abstract

Profitability, as measured by gross profits-to-assets, has roughly the same power as book-to-market predicting the cross-section of average returns. Profitable firms generate significantly higher average returns than unprofitable firms, despite having, on average, lower book-to-markets and higher market capitalizations. Controlling for profitability also dramatically increases the performance of value strategies, especially among the largest, most liquid stocks. These results are difficult to reconcile with popular explanations of the value premium, as profitable firms are less prone to distress, have longer cashflow durations, and have lower levels of operating leverage, than unprofitable firms. Controlling for gross profitability explains most earnings related anomalies, as well as a wide range of seemingly unrelated profitable trading strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Novy-Marx, 2010. "The Other Side of Value: Good Growth and the Gross Profitability Premium," NBER Working Papers 15940, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15940
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Stambaugh, Robert F. & Yu, Jianfeng & Yuan, Yu, 2012. "The short of it: Investor sentiment and anomalies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(2), pages 288-302.
    2. Beneish, M.D. & Lee, C.M.C. & Nichols, D.C., 2015. "In short supply: Short-sellers and stock returns," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(2), pages 33-57.
    3. Olivier Ledoit & Michael Wolf & Zhao Zhao, 2016. "Efficient Sorting: A More Powerful Test for Cross-Sectional Anomalies," ECON - Working Papers 238, Department of Economics - University of Zurich, revised May 2018.
    4. Chung, San-Lin & Hung, Chi-Hsiou & Yeh, Chung-Ying, 2012. "When does investor sentiment predict stock returns?," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 217-240.
    5. Lee, Eunju & Piqueira, Natalia, 2017. "Short selling around the 52-week and historical highs," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 75-101.
    6. Stambaugh, Robert F. & Yu, Jianfeng & Yuan, Yu, 2014. "The long of it: Odds that investor sentiment spuriously predicts anomaly returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(3), pages 613-619.
    7. Hwang, Soosung & Cho, Youngha & Noh, Sanha, 2022. "The cost of overconfidence in public information," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    8. Christian Walkshäusl & Sebastian Lobe, 2014. "The Alternative Three†Factor Model: An Alternative beyond US Markets?," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 20(1), pages 33-70, January.
    9. Qi Liu & Lei Lu & Bo Sun & Hongjun Yan, 2015. "A Model of Anomaly Discovery," International Finance Discussion Papers 1128, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    10. Feng Yu & Guizhou Wang, 2023. "Assessing the Impact of Business Model Innovation on Firm Performance: Insights from the China Growth Enterprise Market," International Business Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 16(4), pages 1-51, April.
    11. Adam Zaremba, 2017. "Combining Equity Country Selection Strategies," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 11(1), March.

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    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates

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