flows showing improving flow of internal funds
injected in operating activities, while positive
earnings representing higher margins and/or
improvement of cost control.
In total, there are four signals for the
profitability aspects: ROA, ΔROA, CFROA, and
ACCRUAL. ROA is defined as operating income
divided by total assets. A binary score for ROA
(bROA) equals 1 if a firm’s ROA is greater than
industry-median ROA and 0 otherwise. We use
median ROA instead of mean ROA to avoid
possible extreme values. Median is also applied
to other signals where applicable.
Furthermore, being profi table is also measured
by an increasing trend of profitability. Firms that
exhibit a growing trend of profits are more likely
to achieve higher future returns. Even if the firms
have negative ROA (losses) in the previous fiscal
period, but if they show an improving trend, they
are potentially more likely to be profitable in the
future. Therefore, a binary score for ΔROA (bΔROA)
equals 1 if a ΔROA is positive, 0 otherwise.
CFROA is defined as a firm’s cash flows from
operations divided by total assets. Since analysts
generally use operating cash flows to predict firm’s
financial position, in addition to earnings, a binary
score for CFROA (bCFROA) equals 1 if a firm’s
CFROA is greater than industry-median CFROA and
0 otherwise.
According to Bernard (1994), the importance of
accounting returns and cash flows, as well as their
relations to each other, needs rigorous attention
when assessing the future prospects of a firm.
Furthermore, Sloan (1996) demonstrates that firms