Stock momentum has long been a workhorse idea. Buy recent winners. Sell recent losers. Critics argue those profits mostly come from riding factor trends like value, size, or industry tilts. This paper pushes back. It shows there is a durable, stock-specific momentum component tied to how prices react to firm news around earnings dates. The result is a cleaner, lower-risk way to capture momentum without leaning so heavily on broad factor moves. The Many Facets of Stock Momentum: Distinguishing Factor and Stock Components Gerard and Jehl Financial Analyst Journal, 2025 A version of this paper can be found here Want to read our summaries of academic finance papers? Check out our  Academic Research Insight  category Key Academic Insights There is real stock-specific momentum, not just factor timing The authors isolate the part of 12-month momentum that comes only from returns in short windows around each firm’s earnings announcements over the prior year.…