The market value of equity of manufacturing companies during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract
The market value of a public company reflects the expectations of investors. It is influenced by many factors, both internal and external to the company. This study aims to analyze whether intellectual capital moderates the effect of the debt-to-equity ratio and earnings per share on the market value of equity. A set of historical data was collected and analyzed based on a sample of 114 manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2017 to 2019. This study uses moderated regression analysis to test proposed hypotheses and a robustness test to examine the sensitivity and consistency of the study results. The findings show that the debt to equity ratio affects the market value of equity, whilst earnings per share does not affect the market value of equity. The analysis also shows that intellectual capital could strengthen the effect of the debt to equity ratio on the market value of equity. In contrast, intellectual capital could not strengthen the effect of earnings per share on the market value of equity. AcknowledgmentsThe study was conducted with the support of the Universitas Riau, Indonesia.