Innovation, Future Earnings, and Market Efficiency

This study examines whether patent citation impact, a leading indicator of technology firms’ innovation capabilities, is associated with future earnings and whether this association is appropriately reflected in stock prices and analysts’ earnings forecasts of patent-rich companies. The results indicate that change of patent citation impact is positively associated with future earnings, particularly in industries with relatively short time lags between technological advances and profit realization (e.g., computers, electronics, and medical equipment). The strength of this relation also significantly increases with time for up to five years in the future. Market participants, including investors and analysts, however, do not fully incorporate the implication of enhanced innovation capabilities for future earnings into stock prices and earnings forecasts. This bias is significantly associated with future abnormal stock returns.