Prior studies attribute the future excess return patterns of R&D firms to either compensation for increased risk from R&D or to mispricing by investors. We suggest a third explanation for the future excess returns of R&D firms. We show that neither the level of R&D investment nor the change in...

This study examines the differential predictive power of past earnings volatility for analyst forecast errors and future returns. Past earnings volatility jointly captures two correlated, but distinct, earnings properties: time-series earnings variation and uncertainty in future earnings. To...

This paper studies the cross-sectional properties of return forecasts derived from Fama-MacBeth regressions. These forecasts mimic how an investor could, in real time, combine many firm characteristics to obtain a composite estimate of a stock's expected return. Empirically, the forecasts vary...