SEBL has about 1bb in debt and 2bb in cash. They have 490mm shares outstanding at roughly $12.
They "earned" .01 per share last quarter but are losing .21 per share for the year.
That's current info from YHOO. Overall, I don't see a strong financial sheet. Certainly not worth the $35mm that Tom took out last year in options.
But, I've grown skeptical of YHOO's profile information lately. Sometimes it's dated. Still, if this is even remotely close, I'd hardly call this a good situation.
Not taking a shot at you, Lizzie, you've been dead on with lots of stuff. But I do question the corporate option culture.
Deferred stock is far more quantifiable and, I think, I better arrangement for long term value and developing loyalty. I rolled the dice in 1999 with the options thing and came up craps due to lousy management that cashed in (thank you very much). I've got lots of friends that had to sell their homes because of similar situations (I managed my money far more astutely). I think SEBL's accounting methods are probably fine, but judging by the numbers, I'd say it looks like they've financed themselves by selling stock because there has been a ton of options exercised.
Basically, when options are exercised the company has to either sell stock to cover it, reduce its cash holdings, or issue new stock (and sell it). None of these is particularly healthy for the long term growth of the company. |
