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Technology Stocks : How high will Microsoft fly?
MSFT 510.37+1.4%Nov 14 3:59 PM EST

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To: ToySoldier who wrote (12503)11/23/1998 12:28:00 PM
From: DavidD  Read Replies (2) of 74651
 
MSFT has an off-balance sheet liability = 1/3 of their net worth, according to the NY Times.

"In notes to its financial statements, Microsoft said it had 75 million put warrants outstanding on Sept. 30. They expire between March 1999 and September 2001 and have strike prices between $76 and $88 a share.

"Taking the average of the two prices, if the company had to buy back all the stock covered by these warrants, it would spend more than $6 billion. That is about one-third of Microsoft's net worth (or shareholders equity) of $19 billion."

Section 3, page 1, 11/22/98 - NYT

In other words, if MSFT stock falls below $88 anytime soon, people will start putting those warrants back to MSFT for cash. At $76, the whole liability can be put to MSFT.
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