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Profitability Retrospective: What Have We Learned?

Author

Listed:
  • Robert Novy-Marx
  • Mamdouh Medhat

Abstract

A lot! Profitability subsumes all of “quality” investing, explaining both the performance of the strategies that industry markets and the factors that academics employ. It also has striking power pricing “defensive equity” strategies that overweight low-beta or low-volatility stocks. Profitability tilts explain all the abnormal performance of popular “alternative value” strategies, including those adjusted for “intangibles,” and half of value's post-2007 underperformance. Profitability is crucial for pricing a wide array of seemingly unrelated anomalies, yielding a more parsimonious understanding of the cross section of expected returns.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Novy-Marx & Mamdouh Medhat, 2025. "Profitability Retrospective: What Have We Learned?," NBER Working Papers 33601, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33601
    Note: AP
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G10 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates

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