The Role of Intangible Investment in Predicting Stock Returns: Six Decades of Evidence

Fuente: arXiv
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Autore principale: Li, Lin
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Li, Lin
author_facet Li, Lin
contents Using an intangible intensity factor that is orthogonal to the Fama--French factors, we compare the role of intangible investment in predicting stock returns over the periods 1963--1992 and 1993--2022. For 1963--1992, intangible investment is weak in predicting stock returns, but for 1993--2022, the predictive power of intangible investment becomes very strong. Intangible investment has a significant impact not only on the MTB ratio (Fama--French high minus low [HML] factor) but also on operating profitability (OP) (Fama--French robust minus weak [RMW] factor) when forecasting stock returns from 1993 to 2022. For intangible asset-intensive firms, intangible investment is the main predictor of stock returns, rather than MTB ratio and profitability. Our evidence suggests that intangible investment has become an important factor in explaining stock returns over time, independent of other factors such as profitability and MTB ratio.
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id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_16336
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The Role of Intangible Investment in Predicting Stock Returns: Six Decades of Evidence
Li, Lin
Pricing of Securities
Using an intangible intensity factor that is orthogonal to the Fama--French factors, we compare the role of intangible investment in predicting stock returns over the periods 1963--1992 and 1993--2022. For 1963--1992, intangible investment is weak in predicting stock returns, but for 1993--2022, the predictive power of intangible investment becomes very strong. Intangible investment has a significant impact not only on the MTB ratio (Fama--French high minus low [HML] factor) but also on operating profitability (OP) (Fama--French robust minus weak [RMW] factor) when forecasting stock returns from 1993 to 2022. For intangible asset-intensive firms, intangible investment is the main predictor of stock returns, rather than MTB ratio and profitability. Our evidence suggests that intangible investment has become an important factor in explaining stock returns over time, independent of other factors such as profitability and MTB ratio.
title The Role of Intangible Investment in Predicting Stock Returns: Six Decades of Evidence
topic Pricing of Securities
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.16336