An empirical study of the earnings–returns association: an evidence from China’s A-share market

Future Business Journal

Table 5 Descriptive statistics using control variables

Statistic	N	Mean	SD	Min	Pctl(25)	Pctl(75)	Max
R	18,093	0.4	0.9	− 0.9	− 0.2	0.7	21.5
ΔEPS/P_t−1	18,093	0.004	0.2	− 5.7	− 0.01	0.01	8.8
EPS/P_t−1	18,093	0.03	0.1	− 5.6	0.01	0.04	3.0
Leverage	18,093	0.5	1.9	− 0.2	0.3	0.6	142.7
Size	18,093	9.5	0.6	4.7	9.1	9.9	12.4
Growth	18,093	77.1	4079.6	0.000	0.3	4.0	395,862.3
EPS	18,093	0.3	0.6	− 21.9	0.1	0.5	14.6
ΔEPS	18,093	− 0.01	0.6	− 20.5	− 0.2	0.1	18.9
P_t	18,093	14.4	13.0	0.2	6.9	17.7	334.1
P_t−1	18,093	14.9	14.9	0.2	6.4	18.0	249.7

R_it is the stock return for i companies in t year (annual return without cash dividend reinvested), EPS refers to the earning per share, and ΔEPS is the change in the earning per share. The EPS/P_t−1 refers to earnings level variable, and ΔEPS/P_t−1 refers to the change in earnings, P_t−1 refers to the market price at the beginning of the period of each year, as all sample companies end their fiscal year on 31/12 each year. Leverage is measured as total liabilities divided by total assets. Size, this measures the company’s natural logarithm of total assets at the end of the previous fiscal year. Growth variable natural logarithm operating revenue