49 An analyst assesses the earnings of three companies using a regression model,

Earnings_{t+1} = α + β₁ × Earnings_t + ε. The analyst determines the following parameters:

| Company | α | β₁ |

|---------|-----|-----|

| Company 1 | 0.4 | 0.8 |

| Company 2 | 0.5 | 0.6 |

| Company 3 | 0.3 | 0.4 |

The company showing the highest earnings persistence is most likely: