Netflix To Expense Options
from the path-blazer-or-turncoat? dept
Some folks in Silicon Valley are surprised that "one of their own", Netflix, has agreed to expense stock options on their latest quarterly report. The more I listen to both sides on this debate, the more convinced I am that it really doesn't matter. Expensing stock options or not expensing stock options has no direct impact on the overall health of a business and its cash flow. Most intelligent investors and analysts can pretty quickly adjust their view of the company depending on how it accounts for options, and so it doesn't really change anything. It might have some impact in superficial things, like how quickly a company reaches financial profitability - which could impact some other decisions they make, just to please certain analysts. It's also likely to make companies slightly less willing to hand out as many stock options, but I imagine most companies will find ways around that, and will still come up with plenty of innovative ways to incentivize their employees.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in thread ]