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发帖数: 1238 | 1 上个季度居然50% 新增股票都给了RSU，自己涸泽而渔了
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1000142405270230341710457
Paying workers with shares may not involve cash. But as Twitter TWTR +4.24%
investors are learning, it comes at a real cost.
Shares of the micromessaging platform tumbled Tuesday as a lockup expired on
stock amounting to roughly two-thirds of its diluted share count. Some of
those shares were held by early Twitter investors. Many were held by
employees granted them to augment cash salaries.
The massive expiration was, for many, the first opportunity to sell, making
it a one-time event. But stock-based compensation will continue to weigh on
Twitter. And the load could grow heavier if the share-price slide continues.
Stock-based-compensation expense was equal to 50% of Twitter's sales in the
first quarter. That compares with 11% for Facebook FB -1.10% and 14% for
LinkedIn. Even fellow so-called momentum stocks report lower numbers, with
business-software purveyors Splunk and Workday booking stock-based-
compensation expense of 33% and 18% of revenue, respectively, in their
fiscal fourth quarters ended in January.
This figure has been lower for Twitter in previous quarters, but it appears
to be the new normal. For 2014, Twitter expects stock-based-compensation
expense of more than 50% of its projected revenue.
Like tech peers, Twitter needs stock-based compensation to lure talent in a
highly competitive job market. Allowing employees to participate in its
market performance theoretically allows it to pay them more. It also aligns
employees' interests with Twitter's.
An added "benefit" is that Twitter, like other tech companies, guides
investors to pro forma earnings that exclude stock-based-compensation costs.
And Wall Street duly plays along with this charade.
For investors, though, the costs are real. And with the stock having fallen
50% so far this year, amid concerns about slowing user growth, they may rise
. The risk is that the stock, the company's compensation currency, continues
to become less valuable. That could force Twitter to issue even more shares
, further diluting existing shareholders.
And even after Tuesday's drop, Twitter still doesn't look cheap. On a
diluted basis, it trades at about 19 times analyst estimates for 2014 sales.
That compares with less than 14 times for Facebook.
Wall Street analysts may be willing to look past share-based-compensation
expenses when evaluating Twitter. Savvy investors will do their own math. |
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