I investigate the profitability and investment premium in stock returns using hand-collected data from Moody's Manuals for 1940-1963. Controlling for value, the profitability premium emerges as important in this period. In contrast, there no reliable relation between investment and returns,...

We examine the joint distribution of value and profitability in international markets. Over the 1990-2020 sample period, portfolios formed at the intersection of value and profitability generate systematic return patterns: value and high-profitability portfolios substantially outperform growth...

Current R&D expenditures forecast cash-based operating profitability up to three years in the future and sometimes as much as ten years, but do not forecast asset growth. High R&D firms have positive loadings on a cash-based operating profitability factor, and zero alphas. Capitalizing R&D to...