EVA has established superiority over other measures of performance but that does not mean that EVA alone can clearly tell how the plans are going and strategic goals being met. The companies that have invested heavily today and expect positive cash flow only in distant future are extreme examples that have negative EVA in near future. Their performance can be better judged by market share, sales growth etc.
For the equity analysts, there is a word of caution. The concept of EVA requires knowledge of accounts internal to organization to a great extent and their availability to the external world is a big constraint. This constraint becomes even more pronounced in countries like India where even the annual reports published by companies have scanty disclosures. Moreover, it has to be borne in mind that EVA gives one year snapshot of company's operational performance.