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: