Going Digital: Implications for Firm Value and Performance
We examine the firm value and performance implications of the growing trend of non-technology (non-tech) companies adopting digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, machine learning. For the entire universe of US public listed firms, we identify companies that are going digital using textual analysis of disclosure of digital-related words in corporate financial reports and conference calls. We first show that digital adoption by non-tech firms has dramatically grown in recent years. Non-tech digital adopters exhibit greater stock price co-movement with technology companies than with their industry peers, suggesting that the digital activities are making them similar to tech firms. The digital adopters hold more cash and are larger, younger, and less CapEx-intensive. Digital adoption is associated with higher valuation ― market-to-book ratio is higher by 7-21% than industry peers – and is higher for firms that are younger, more CapEx-intensive, exhibit higher sales growth and are in industries where digital adoption is prevalent. However, markets are slow to respond to the disclosure of digital activity. Portfolios formed on digital disclosure earn a size/book-to-market adjusted return of 25% over a 3-year horizon and generate a monthly alpha of 40 basis points. Finally, while there is no significant improvement in financial performance as measured by return-on-assets conditional on digital activities, there is a significant increase in asset turnover but also a significant decline in margins and sales growth. Managerial expertise is important for digital technology adoption, as firms with senior technology executives perform better when going digital.
Citation:
Chen, Wilbur, and Suraj Srinivasan. "Going Digital: Implications for Firm Value and Performance." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 19-117, May 2019. View Details