Firms with sustainable competitive advantage significantly outperform others during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Wide-moat is positively priced by the stock market during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Wide-moat firms are associated with positive cumulative abnormal returns after the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Abstract
Although firms with sustainable competitive advantage do not yield superior returns in regular years, these firms significantly outperform others during the Covid-19 pandemic. Empirical evidence shows that wide-moat is positively priced by the stock market during the pandemic, which is not the case in the pre-pandemic period. Furthermore, wide-moat firms can generate positive cumulative abnormal returns after the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the magnitude wanes down as time expands into the future.