This article compares the financial characteristics of U.S. firms with the financial characteristics of U.K., German, and French firms in four major manufacturing industries by using the MANOVA (Multivariate Analysis of Variance) method with data for the January 1997-December 2001 period. The findings indicate that the financial characteristics of U.S. and European manufacturing firms are significantly different. The most significant differences are between U.S. firms and German firms. U.S. firms are generally more profitable and they have lower return-on-equity volatility risk in comparison with European firms.