As of 20 10, in S&; Among P500 enterprises, IT companies have the largest R&D expenditure, accounting for 28% of the total expenditure. The researcher selected 60 companies, analyzed their data from 200 1 to 20 10, and finally came to the conclusion:
* There is a clear relationship between R&D expenditure and income;
By comparing the trends of R&D expenditure and sales growth, the researchers found that if a company develops innovative products and has market demand, its income will inevitably increase, R&D will promote innovation, and innovation may stimulate market demand.
* R&D expenditure also has a significant impact on gross profit margin;
If a company's R&D intensity increases, its raw materials and labor costs may be cut, which will undoubtedly increase the gross profit margin of its products. For those companies that already have innovative advantages, they can also provide more differentiated advantages in terms of product and service quality, thus increasing the selling price. In the end, this will also increase the company's gross profit margin.
* R&D expenditure is negatively correlated with scientific and technological innovation;
Comparing the relationship among R&D intensity, income and illiquid assets, the researchers found that when companies increase R&D expenditure to develop new technologies, they will register them as patents, and these patents will become intangible assets of the company. Due to the increase of R&D investment, they will use unlimited assets instead of actual innovation to compete with their competitors, and these intangible assets not only have no practical effect on innovation, but also will not increase the company's income.
The researchers also supported this conclusion by testing the research models of six companies, including Apple, Dell, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Intel and Microsoft. In other words, if a company spends too much on patents or unlimited assets in an attempt to suppress competitors or avoid legal disputes, it often loses more than it gains.
Another group selected 40 companies from the global 100 information technology companies selected by Businessweek for research. Finally, they also found interesting results:
Generally speaking, the company will not generate income until it has invested in research and development for four years; Compared with companies with low R&D investment, companies with higher R&D costs have more income; The P/E ratio of companies with high R&D intensity is relatively stable and significantly higher than that of companies with low R&D intensity. In other words, investors tend to give high valuations to companies with large investments in R&D..
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